The break of the 7,150Pts mark is confirmed, with the CAC40 closing down 0.85% at 7124Pts.

Paris is a victim of last week's bearish inertia (-2.5%): the downward movement has clearly amplified over the hours. The Dow Jones dropped -0.1% and the Euro-Stoxx50 even sank -1% towards 4,160, its worst mark since March 28: almost 3 months for nothing.

The stock market is suffering from economic uncertainties and the prospect of higher interest rates for longer, which continue to weigh on the trend.

Between high interest rates, sluggish growth in Europe, the slowdown in the Chinese economy and the prospect of a slowdown in investment, there is no shortage of reasons for concern.

Added to this is the spectre of a partial shutdown of the US federal government on October 1, following the recent blocking of a defense spending bill by Republican members of parliament.

'The negative elements are too present to offer any hope of a new return to the major resistance of 7,360 points', say the technical analysts at Kiplink Finance.

The mid-range support at 7050 points could be quickly tested', they warn in a note published on Friday (the CAC is trying to preserve 7,100).

The macroeconomic indicators expected in the coming week are likely to confirm that a slowdown is indeed underway.

Germany's Ifo business climate index fell from 85.8 in August to 85.7 this month, a level which, according to Capital Economics, is higher than the market consensus (85.2), but close to its own forecast (86).

Among the macro-economic indicators on the week's menu, there are also two statistics on inflation in the USA and the Eurozone, which could cause the markets to react.

In these conditions, investors are bracing themselves for a return to volatility, which has already seen the VIX, often dubbed Wall Street's 'fear barometer', soar over the past week.

It is beginning to approach the danger zone, i.e. 18.50 (it is up +4% to 17.9, with only a 3% margin of safety, which is very little.

On Monday, the return of worries about Chinese property giant Evergrande caused Hong Kong's Hang Seng index to stumble by almost 1.5%.

Over the week just ended, the Dow Jones lost 1.9% and the Nasdaq 3.6%, a decline explained above all by the Fed's cautious approach.

Analysts are also concerned about the declining interest in artificial intelligence stocks, whose valuations are considered more stretched following their recent surge.

On the bond front, there's nothing to report: the yield on US Treasuries is stagnant at 4.44% (which remains close to last week's 4.50% threshold following the Fed's comments).

Bunds and OATs are also stagnating at Friday's (poor) levels.

The oil market is trending upwards, despite the growing uncertainties surrounding the evolution of the global economy, and hence demand for black gold.

Brent crude is reversing the trend, consolidating -1.3% at $92.6 a barrel, while West Texas Intermediate (WTI) is down 1.4% at $89.10.

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