After dropping as much as -1.1% (to 7,130), the Paris Bourse is now halving its losses to -0.6%, as interest rates ease sharply in Europe, and Wall Street turns out to be slightly less negative than expected (the Dow Jones posts -0.5%), although the Nasdaq is still down -1%.

The CAC40 hovered around 7160 points, penalized by the second consecutive session of declines in banking stocks, and was down by nearly 2.9% for the week as a whole.
The Euro-Stoxx50, which dropped -1% to around 4,260 points, lost -3% over the week.

Against this gloomy backdrop, investors this morning took note of various statistics in Europe.
The PMI flash composite HCOB index of global activity in France fell from 51.2 in May to 47.3 in June, slipping well below the 50 mark that demarcates growth from contraction, for the first time since January.

'Marking the end of four consecutive months of expansion, the index signals a moderate downturn in French private sector activity, albeit the strongest since February 2021', points out S&P Global, which collects the data.

In addition, the HCOB composite PMI flash index of overall activity in the eurozone fell from 52.8 in May to 50.3 in June, its lowest level since January, signalling a very sharp slowdown in the region's economic growth in June.

With two consecutive quarters of GDP contraction in Q4 2022 and Q1 2023, the Eurozone has entered a technical recession.

And while a rebound is expected in Q2, investors are well aware that the mounting negative effects of monetary tightening are likely to cause growth to falter thereafter.

The US economy, too, is under threat of recession from fears that the Fed's repeated interest rate hikes will penalize activity.
The US private sector saw its growth slow significantly in June, according to S&P Global, whose composite PMI index came in at 53.0 in flash estimates for the month, compared with 54.3 in May.

The Conference Board, a New York-based employers' organization, had warned yesterday that it expected a recessionary episode in the United States between the third quarter of 2023 and the first quarter of 2024.

The week ended with a spectacular easing of rates in Europe, with OATs down 16pts to 2.86% and Bunds down 15.5pts to 2.335%.
US T-Bonds, on the other hand, only shed -4pts to 3.725%, boosting the Dollar, which rallied +0.65% to 1.0890.

In French company news, Capgemini announced that it had signed an agreement to acquire BTC Corporation in Japan, to 'strengthen its cloud and digital capabilities in the country in order to meet demand for services across the entire value chain'.

SES Immagotag falls -57% (to 72E) after 1 session of suspension following accusations of accounting irregularities by an activist fund 'Gotham city'.

Vallourec announces the signature, on June 19, of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Saudi Arabian Ministry of Investment (MISA) for the expansion of its activities in Saudi Arabia, including the increase of its local presence and the deployment of its latest innovations in energy transition, additive manufacturing and the circular economy.

As part of the development of its public works/water sector, Samse announces that it is in advanced and exclusive discussions with Gemoise, a distributor of building and public works materials.


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