The CAC40 gained a little over 0.7% (to 8,190) and - barring a highly unlikely surprise - is set for a 5th consecutive session of gains, for a cumulative gain of around 3.5% over the interval: the Paris Bourse is back to within 0.2% of its all-time best close of March 28, 8,205 points (and if the CAC were to break a record this evening at 5:35pm, there's still 20 minutes to go!).

The market rises 'in a vacuum' (950MnsE traded in 7 hours), in the absence of any opposition: the market is literally deserted by traders on this Ascension Thursday, so the few buyers are making the difference.

This session will certainly go down as historic for the German stock market, with the DAX (+1%) shattering a new all-time record at 18,700Pts, despite the -6% plunge of Mercédès.
The Euro-Stoxx50 remained a little behind at +0.2%, reflecting the lacklustre mood on Wall Street, where for the 3rd time in 3 sessions, the 3 main US indices moved within narrow margins, with the Dow Jones at +0.4%, the Nasdaq up by 0.2%, the S&P500 averaging +0.3% and flirting with its all-time closing record at 5,207Pts.207Pts (ditto for the Nasdaq, which is just a few points short at 16,350).

While the last few sessions have been punctuated by the publication of numerous quarterly corporate results, JPMorgan reports that 78% of companies did better than expected in the US, while 56% exceeded expectations in Europe, a performance above the usual average.

Despite the pleasant surprises that characterized US corporate accounts, stock market reaction remained lacklustre, as better-than-expected publications were greeted, on the whole, by nil scores, while disappointments were more harshly punished than usual", observes the New York bank.

The environment remains sluggish, as we await the next catalyst.

It didn't come from the UK this lunchtime: the Bank of England left its key rate unchanged as expected, but specified that it 'should cut rates in the next few months or quarters' (making it possible to hold rates for a further 6 months).
The BoE expects 2.6% inflation - instead of 2.8% - in the UK in 2024.

British Gilts are not benefiting from this, and their yield has risen by +5pts to 4.19%.
In the Eurozone, OATs are +4pts to 3.003%, Bunds +4pts to 2.498% and Italian BTPs +5pts to 4.85%.
US T-Bonds remain more serene, with +2pts to 2.502%.

Apart from US jobless claims, there were no major indicators on today's agenda.
The Labor Department reported 231,000 new jobless claims in the US for the week ending April 29, up 22,000 on the previous week, which was revised marginally upwards from 208,000 to 209,000.

The four-week moving average - more representative of the underlying trend - came in at 210,250, an anecdotal increase of 250 on the previous week.

Lastly, the number of people receiving regular benefits rose by 17,000 to 1,785,000 in the week to April 22, the most recent period available for this statistic.

The dollar weakened against the euro, gaining 0.2% to 1.0770, while Brent crude oil edged up 0.3% to $84.05 in London.

In other French company news, EDF announced that, following the ASN's decision to authorize commissioning of the Flamanville EPR, its teams began loading the 241 fuel assemblies into the reactor vessel on May 8, a process that will last several days.

Renault announced this morning that Nissan's contribution to its own results was estimated at 225 million euros for the first quarter of 2024. The Losange was up by nearly 1.8% this morning, the biggest gain on the CAC.

Finally, Oddo BHF reiterated its 'outperform' opinion and its price target of 24 euros on Alstom, the day after the publication of annual results accompanied by the presentation of measures to strengthen the balance sheet, including a capital increase.

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