The CAC40 closed the "4 Witches" session down 0.56% at 7,628 points, penalized in particular by Saint-Gobain (-3.6%), Renault (-3%) and Teleperformance (-1.9%).

Over the past week, however, the Paris index has gained nearly 1.7%, a scant consolation after a decline of over 6% the previous week.

Some traders attribute this upward movement to the success of the latest French debt auction, which met with strong demand despite the uncertainty surrounding the outcome of the forthcoming legislative elections.

On the statistics front, growth in the US private sector accelerated very slightly in June, according to S&P Global's composite PMI index, which came in at 54.6 in flash estimates, compared with 54.5 in final data for the previous month.

S&P Global points out that production has now risen continuously for 17 months in a row, with a marked improvement in the pace of expansion between May and June, while price pressures have eased.

It was also PMI day in Europe: the morning was punctuated by the publication of the flash PMI HCOB composite index of overall activity in the eurozone. This fell from 52.2 in May to 50.8 in June, showing only a slight increase in private-sector activity levels over the month.

In France, the HCOB flash composite PMI for overall activity fell from 48.9 in May to 48.2 in June, signalling a moderate decline in French private-sector activity in June, with the rate of contraction increasing month-on-month.

Also in France, business sentiment remained stable in June compared with May (for the third consecutive month), with the Insee synthetic indicator holding at 99, just below its long-term average (100).

The yield on the ten-year German Bund, the benchmark for the eurozone, is stable at 2.40%, as is the OAT, which is stagnating at 3.16%: the spread has widened to just over 75 pts.

The US bond yield is moving towards 4.27%.
The euro erases its morning gains and falls back to $1.0687, while Brent crude oil grabs 0.2% in London, at $85.8.

In French company news, Wendel announces that Scalian has finalized the acquisition of Mannarino Systems & Software, a Canadian engineering company specializing in advanced R&D technologies for the aviation industry, with expertise in safety-critical embedded systems and software.

bioMérieux announces that its Vitek Reveal antibiogram system, providing results directly from positive blood cultures, has received 510(k) clearance from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Finally, TotalEnergies, as a shareholder in Offshore Wind One GmbH, announces that it has been awarded the N-11.2 concession in the North Sea, around 120 kilometers northwest of the German Heligoland archipelago.

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