The Paris stock market followed a somewhat opposite scenario to that seen on Tuesday: initially down at 7,490 (the low tested the previous day, but also the day after the 1st round of legislative elections), the CAC40 recovered, turned back into the green, gained +0.8% at lunchtime and then stabilized around a pivot of 7,570 (i.e. +0.7 to +0.8%).

French stocks benefited from a clear easing in yields (-7.5pts for our OATs (to 3.1800%), the trajectory being the opposite of the previous day's), while the spread with the Bund (-5pts to 2.5300%) contracted by -2.5pts (erasing Tuesday's +2.5pt rise).

The Euro-Stoxx50 (+0.9% to 4,950) is also benefiting from the upturn in bond prices, moving away from the 4.900Pts.
Wall Street inexorably continued its rally, setting a new flurry of absolute records (7th in a row): 27th for the Nasdaq (+0.5%) at 18,550, 37th for the S&P (+0.3%) at 5,596, the Dow Jones dozed off at 39,300.

The only figure of the day is of minor importance: US wholesaler inventories rose by 0.6% in May on a sequential basis, according to the Commerce Department, following a 0.2% increase the previous month (revised from an initially estimated 0.1% growth).

As US wholesaler sales rose by 0.4% in May compared with the previous month, it took them 1.35 months to clear their inventories, a ratio stable compared with that observed in April.

Investors are not expecting any surprises from Fed Chairman Jerome Powell's second hearing before the House of Representatives, scheduled for this afternoon.

Yesterday, in front of the Senate, the Federal Reserve boss had paved the way for a rate cut next September by welcoming the decline in inflation and the easing of tensions on the labor market.

Christopher Dembik, of Pictet AM, points out that "he highlighted the risk of cutting rates too late or too little, which could have negative effects on economic activity and employment".
"Everything is in place for a rate cut in September", concludes the strategist.

The FOREX remains calm, with the Euro clawing back 0.05% to 1.0820 (everything seems to have stood still since last Friday), while Gold is holding on to yesterday's gains at $2.375/Oz.

In French company news, BNP Paribas has announced the signing of a multi-year partnership with Mistral AI, which will give it access to all the start-up's current and future business models in the banking sector.

Vallourec announces that it has been awarded a contract by TotalEnergies to supply nearly 5,000 tonnes of OCTG tubes and associated services, for the Kaminho deepwater project off the coast of Angola.

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