The flagship CAC 40 index fell 28.66 points to 7,316.30 points. On Tuesday, it had finally stagnated after having come close to its all-time record, just above 7,400 points.

"We blow with six sessions well oriented", including that of Monday "despite the hammer blow" of the sharp rise in oil prices, observes Lionel Melka, partner at Swan Capital.

But since then several indicators have shown a slowdown in the economy, especially on employment in the United States. After the sharp decline in positions to power on Tuesday, to their lowest level since May 2021, investors learned that job creation in the private sector was much lower than their estimates.

A less tight labor market "is what the U.S. Federal Reserve wants" for several months in order to curb inflation, notes Melka. This strengthens investors in their hopes that the institution will lower these key rates in the second half of the year.

As a result, rates for government bonds on the bond market eased further: that of the 10-year debt of the French state stood at 2.68%, against 2.75% on Tuesday.

Economic activity has also shown signs of slowing.

In France, private sector growth was weaker than initially estimated in March, S&P reported Wednesday.

In the euro zone, growth was also weaker than expected by analysts in March.

In the United States, the services activity index (ISM) slowed much more than expected in March, but remained expanding. On Monday, the professional federation ISM had announced that the activity of the manufacturing industry had continued to decline, for the fifth consecutive month, in proportions above expectations.

Sector rotation

Faced with the economic slowdown in sight, investors favored defensive stocks, which are less sensitive to economic conditions.

The CAC 40 was driven by Orange (+2.60% to 11.28 euros), Danone (+0.98% to 59.49 euros), and the health sector such as EssilorLuxottica (+2.08% to 166.90 euros), Sanofi (+1.81% to 101.40 euros) and Eurofins Scientific (+0.86% to 60.84 euros).

Conversely, values more subject to economic fluctuations declined, as in automotive with Renault (-4.21% to 36.76 euros), construction with Legrand (-4.55% to 78.94 euros), consumption with Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield (-2.50% to 48.44 euros).

Main course and dessert for Sodexo

The catering and services group Sodexo soared 11.30% to 100.55 euros, after announcing the spin-off of its lucrative restaurant vouchers and gift voucher activities, which will become a separate company, listed on the stock exchange, of which the Bellon family will remain the reference shareholder.

The company also announced its half-year results, where growth targets were raised.

Restaurant voucher specialist Edenred took 2.14% to 56.32 euros.

Nexans sold at a discounted price

The largest shareholder of the Nexans company, the Chilean Invexans, sold 9.6% of the capital for only 80 euros per share. It fell by 7.08% to 82.05 euros.

© 2023 AFP