The Paris stock market is up 0.3% on the start of the week, at 7980 points, led by Teleperformance (up 4.1%), Axa (up 1.7%) and Thales (up 1.4%).

In the absence of any real catalysts, and with the upcoming public holidays (Armistice and Ascension) approaching, the markets could be somewhat neglected by investors, true to the old stock market proverb of 'Sell in May, then go away'.

We have re-examined this market adage and found that it is much more than just a cliché", emphasize the teams at J. Safra Sarasin.

"Indeed, performances during the summer months have always been weaker, across all regions, sectors and time periods", the private bank reminds us.

We still expect equities to rise between now and the end of the year, but the next few months are likely to follow the usual seasonal pattern, with only a moderate increase", it adds.

Investors seem to be waiting for just one thing in the near future: for the Federal Reserve to finally decide to cut rates, a prospect that remains shrouded in the utmost vagueness.

Among the few indicators on this week's agenda, the University of Michigan's consumer confidence index on Friday will give us a better idea of the current mood of American households.

In Europe, the services PMI indices - which had provided some pleasant surprises in their preliminary versions - could turn out to be a little less flattering in their final versions today.

Still on the statistics front, in March 2024 compared with the previous month, industrial producer prices fell by 0.4% in the eurozone and by 0.5% in the EU, according to Eurostat estimates, following decreases of 1.1% in the eurozone and 1% in the EU in February.

In the eurozone, industrial producer prices rose by 0.4% for non-durable consumer goods, by 0.1% for other goods, and fell by 1.8% for energy. Excluding energy, they rose by 0.2%.

Among the companies yet to publish their quarterly results, US entertainment giant Disney, British chipmaker Arm and oil group bp will announce theirs this week.

Several French companies will also publish their results this week, including Alstom, Arkema and Bouygues.

The Paris market will be open on Wednesday and Thursday for the May 8, 1945 Armistice Day and Ascension Day, but is likely to be relatively inactive on these two French public holidays.

Volumes are likely to remain limited today as the London Stock Exchange closes for the 'Early May Bank Holiday'.

In French company news, Atos confirms that last Friday it received four financial proposals to provide new liquidity as part of the ongoing conciliation procedure from a group of bondholders and banks, Bain Capital, EP Equity Investment (controlled by Daniel Kretinsky in partnership with Attestor Limited) and Onepoint (controlled by David Layani in consortium with Butler Industries).

Maurel & Prom announces that it has received a specific license from the US Treasury Department's OFAC for its consolidated 40% stake in the mixed company Petroregional del Lago (PRDL), which operates the Urdaneta Oeste field in Venezuela.

SES announced on Monday that it had been selected by Colombian telecom operator Inred to provide broadband connectivity services in remote areas of the Amazon.

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