The Paris Bourse is back to equilibrium (around 7,030), but remains very hesitant, fluctuating between +0.2% and -0.2% since lunchtime.
The CAC40 remains supported by the utilities sector, with Engie (+2.5%) and Veolia (+1.5%).
Paris rallies a little, while Wall Street has virtually erased its initial -0.4% to -0.5%: the Nasdaq even briefly returned to the green before losing 0.2%, as did the S&P500.

Few reactions to the US "composite PMI" published by S&P-Global: the purchasing managers' index for the manufacturing and services sectors climbed to 46.6 from 45 in December, the highest in 3 months.
In detail, the 'services' PMI (tertiary) rose from 44.7 to 46.6 between December and January (beating a consensus of 45). The manufacturing PMI (industry) rose from 46.2 to 46.8 (vs. 46 expected, a 2-month high).

The Paris index benefited this morning (briefly peaking below 7,060pts) from encouraging figures from the S&P Global composite PMI for eurozone activity (flash estimate).
The index rose for the third consecutive month in January, to 50.2 from 49.3 in December, and is now back above the 50 mark for no change.
The index thus signals modest growth in the eurozone private sector, the first since June 2022, thanks to the services sector, whose index rose to 50.7, while manufacturing production (index up to 49) fell only slightly.

In France, the picture is a little more mixed. The PMI flash composite index of overall activity in France fell from 49.1 in December 2022 to 49 in January, signalling a third consecutive monthly decline in French private sector business activity.

The performance of manufacturers continued to weigh heavily on that of the economy as a whole, with a further decline in manufacturing output, while the services sector posted its biggest drop in activity since March 2021.

The fragility of demand continues to weigh on France's economic performance, with overall new business volume down again in January", notes Joe Hayes, senior economist at S&P Global Market Intelligence.
The picture is rather different across the Channel, where the S&P Global/CIPS private sector activity index for Great Britain fell to 47.8 in January from 49.0 in December, the lowest forecast in the Reuters consensus of economists.
The downturn is blamed on rising interest rates, recurring strikes and weak demand.

In the USA, the ball of earnings releases continues today with announcements from 3M, GE, Halliburton, Johnson & Johnson, Travelers and Verizon.
Halliburton and J&J largely exceeded expectations, but 3M and Lockheed Martin disappointed.

On the bond front, our OATs (-4pts to 2.615%), Bunds (-2.5pts to 2.176%) and Italian BTPs (-7pts to 3.946%) showed a slight improvement.
Across the Atlantic, despite the rise in the Composite PMI, US T-Bonds eased -3.5pts to 3.484%, and have been extending their advance since 2.30 p.m.

As a result, the Euro-Dollar parity is stable at 1.0870 (range of the day: 1.0850/1.0900).

In French company news, Eurobio Scientific announced last night that it had recorded sales of 152.5 million euros in fiscal 2022, a performance 17% down on 2021.

Israeli company CytoReason announced last night that it had signed a licensing agreement with Sanofi to use its artificial intelligence tools to discover new drugs.

Technip Energies announced that, as part of its long-term agreement with Aramco, it has won a contract to modernize the sulfur recovery infrastructure at Aramco's Riyadh refinery.

Finally, in a business update, Carmat announced that it expects to reach a production capacity of 500 prostheses in 2024 and 1,000 prostheses by 2027, as well as break-even within five years, in 2027.

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