The Paris Stock Exchange ends up slightly after the slowdown in US inflation

The Parisian market closed slightly up 0.33% on Thursday, reacting cautiously to the publication of US producer prices, markers of a slowdown in inflation across the Atlantic.

The CAC 40 index ended up 21.23 points at 6,544.67 points, after gaining 0.52% the day before.

Investors reacted cautiously after the announcement of the decline in wholesale prices in the United States, for the first time since April 2020, which nevertheless gave an additional signal of a slowdown in inflation in the United States.

“After yesterday’s gains, which saw European markets close at two-month highs, the day was much tougher, despite continued resistance in US markets,” commented Michael Hewson of CMC Markets.

Europe remains more “sensitive to rising energy prices, especially natural gas”, he adds.

The benchmark natural gas contract in Europe rose 1.33% at around 4:20 p.m. GMT, after having exceeded 216 euros per megawatt hour (MWh) earlier.

Especially since Europe still faces the risk that the European Central Bank (ECB) will continue to raise its interest rates, underlines Patrice Gautry, chief economist at Union Bancaire Privée.

In the United States, investors now believe that the Federal Reserve should reduce the scale of its rate hikes, now that price developments are showing signs of slowing down.

Health sector taken aback

Valneva fell 1.52% to 10.01 euros after announcing Thursday to revise its profit forecasts sharply downwards, to a range of 340 million to 360 million euros for the year 2022, against a range between 430 million and 590 million so far.

The Franco-Austrian laboratory widened its net loss in the first half of 2022 over one year, penalized by its vaccine against Covid-19, whose sales were significantly reduced in the European Union.

For its part, Sanofi closed at -3.33% at 84.75 euros after the publication of a note from UBS bank which revived fears about a dispute over a drug from the laboratory.

UBS is particularly concerned about the dispute over Zantac, a drug used against heartburn, formerly sold over the counter in the United States and Canada and withdrawn in 2019.