Recap (credits: Boursorama – A. Morris)
Monday April 14
CAC 40: +2.37% at 7.104.80 points and 4.6 billion euros exchanged
The session
The Paris Stock Exchange is starting well for the week, taking advantage of an investors’ windfall effect on the shares after Donald Trump’s announcement of a provisional exemption from customs surcharge on tech products. In the middle of a trade war with Beijing, the United States has finally granted an exemption from surcharge on high-tech products, smartphones and computers in mind, as well as on semiconductors. Since last week, they imposed Chinese products in 145%since last week, as part of a vast protectionist offensive launched by Washington in early April, which makes markets very volatile. Beijing has retaliated by leaping his customs duties to 125% since Saturday. The tech sector took advantage of the announcement of temporary exemptions from customs surcharge in the United States. SOITEC ended up 5.55% to 46.00 euros and Stmicroelectronics of 2.17% to 17.97 euros.
The new York Stock Exchange followed the same trend: the Dow Jones advanced by 0.78%, the NASDAQ index by 0.64%and the enlarged S&P 500 index won 0.79%. The yield of American state loans at ten years old was frankly relaxed on Monday, at 4.38% around 8:20 p.m. GMT against 4.49% Friday at the end. On the table of values, car manufacturers were sought, like Ford (+4.07%), General Motors (+3.46%) and Stellantis (+5.64%), after Donald Trump assured that they had “needed a little time” to relocate their production in the United States. “I am looking for a solution to help certain car manufacturers which turn to parts made in Canada, Mexico and elsewhere,” added the American president.
Value in sight
The title Rubis continued its rebound on the Paris Stock Exchange after the announcement that the planting of the Red Lands, a company of the Bolloré group, had strengthened in capital. In a press release published on Friday evening, the specialist in oil and chemical downstream indicates that he has received a notification of crossing threshold informing him the planting of red land had crossed the statutory threshold of 6% of ordinary shares and rights last Monday. At that date, the company held 6.01% of the capital. This statement comes when Rubis announced earlier in the day than the concert formed around the businessman Patrick Molis had crossed the 9%threshold.
Tuesday April 15
CAC 40: +0.26% to 7,335, 40 points and 4.8 billion euros exchanged
The session
The Paris Stock Exchange has closed in small increases, against a background of strong uncertainties as to the protectionist policy of Donald Trump, with a reflection on the one hand as to possible customs duties on the pharmacy and semiconductors and on the other, more reassuring remarks concerning the automobile. Stellantis (Peugeot, Fiat, Chrysler) logically took advantage of the turnaround prospects, finishing up 6.55% to 8.33 euros per share. The equipment manufacturers followed the dynamics, like Forvia (+5.75% at 6.03 euros) and Valeo (+6.87% to 8.18 euros). The French luxury group Hermès went to the first position of CAC 40 in terms of market capitalization, dethroning its Rival LVMH, which unscrews the day after the publication of disappointing quarterly results.
In the United States, it was the decline that won: the Dow Jones index sold 0.38%, to 40,368.96 points and the Nasdaq Composite finished almost stable. Raising at the start of the session, the main Wall Street indices finally fell, illustrating the climate of uncertainty in the markets while US President Donald Trump multiplies commercial announcements. While the quarterly results season has just opened, business leaders are expected to be cautious in their forecasts, even reluctant to communicate, in this commercial context making a vagueness over the prospects.
The solid quarterly results of large American banks have brought the financial sector, like Bank of America, in sharp rise on Tuesday after results in the expectations over the January-March. On the other hand, the health sector has declined, weighed down by the Merck & Co and Johnson’s withdrawal, whose disappointing quarterly sales of medical instruments made investors forget a profit higher than the expectations in the first quarter.
In addition, the Dow Jones was sealed in particular by the decline of 2.4% of Boeing after Bloomberg reported that China asked its airlines to no longer accept delivery from the American group in response to 145% customs duties imposed by the United States.
Value in sight
LVMH fell heavily after the publication, the night before, of its turnover for the first quarter. Over the period, it fell 2% into published data and 3% in comparable data, to 20.311 billion euros. Since the beginning of the year, the action of the luxury group has accused a decline of almost 24%. The main factor of degradation in LVMH “was the greater contraction of Chinese demand in the world (itself due mainly to the decline in Chinese spending in Japan)”, detail in a note on Tuesday analysts of Morgan Stanley. “To a lesser extent, the expenses of American nationals have also decreased, but only moderately in the first quarter,” added the bank, which now estimates that turnover on 2025 will contract 0.6%. She lowers her lens of courses on LVMH from 740 euros to 590 euros and her recommendation to “online weighting”, against “overcoming”. In the wake of LVMH, the entire luxury sector is penalized on Tuesday.
Wednesday April 16
CAC 40: -0.07% to 7,329.97 points and 4.1 billion euros
The session
After having spent the entire session in negative territory, the Paris Stock Exchange practically found its balance point in the last minutes of rating. The Parisian index is carried by Totalenergies (+2.1%), Bouygues (+1.9%) or Kering (+1.7%) but penalized by Publicis (-4%), Michelin (-1.6%) or Renault (-1.6%).
The New York Stock Exchange finished, in a clear drop in weighted with the gloomy prospects of the American Central Bank (Fed) as to the state of health of the United States economy, and by climbing in the trade war between Beijing and Washington. The NASDAQ index, where the technological sector is concentrated, plunged 3.07%, the enlarged S&P 500 index lost 2.24%and the Dow Jones fell 1.73%. Already in the red at the opening, the American square was sealed more beautifully by the words of the patron of the Fed, Jerome Powell, who estimated that the customs duties wanted by the American president Donald Trump place the central bank in the face of a “complicated situation in which our two objectives are in tension”. In addition, the semiconductor sector, already undermined by Wednesday by the trade war launched by Trump, also sinks more beautifully after Mr. Powell’s speech. The giants of the NVIDIA and AMD semiconductor sector plunged more than 10% at Wall Street in session, before finishing at -6.87% and -7.35% respectively. Nvidia has lost almost a quarter of its valuation since the inauguration of Donald Trump at the end of January. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (TSMC) lost 3.60% and Broadcom 2.43%.
Value in sight
The Catana Group action took the water, yielding 20.6% into a session. In the first half of its 2024/2025 financial year, its turnover fell 23% to 81.2 million euros. In a press release, the group based in Canet-en-Roussillon evokes a “heavy” geopolitical and economic context as well as uncertainties for the current exercise and the following. The former yachts who reported a turnover also reported “very reduced” visibility for 2025 and 2026. In order to adjust to the market “new situation”, Catana says it has led to a reduction in the price of its boats, between 2% and 10% depending on its models, with the objective of sending a strong signal to customers to escape the pronounced care.
Thursday April 17
CAC 40: -0.6%, at 7,285.86 points and 3.7 billion euros.
The session
The Paris Stock Exchange ended up in decline but over the whole week, the index wins however 2.55%. The markets will be closed on Friday and Monday, due to Easter weekend. Beijing and Washington continue to send the ball back on customs duties, fueling uncertainty about the outcome of a trade war which should cause a decline in world exchanges and an increase in inflation in the United States.
In this context, the European Central Bank (ECB) lowered its rates Thursday for the sixth time in a row, hoping to counter the effect of trade tensions that threaten growth in the euro zone. The deposit rate, which refers, was lowered by 25 base points, to 2.25%.
The French luxury group Hermès and the French luxury giant LVMH are in the elbow for the place of first market capitalization of the CAC 40, but also of the most valued luxury company in the world.
The New York Stock Exchange ended in dispersed order: the Dow Jones index sold 1.33% to 39,142.23 points, the S&P 500 took 0.13% to 5,282.70 points and the NASDAQ Composite fell on its side from 0.13% to 16,286.45 points. A certain optimism has won the traders after US President Donald Trump spoke of “great progress” in trade discussions between Washington and Tokyo, the day after a clear withdrawal of the main Wall Street indices. The head of the White House also declared before the press that he expected to conclude an agreement with China, without however giving any indications on potential negotiations between the two largest world economic powers, engaged in a trade war. In addition, Donald Trump attacked Thursday to the President of the Federal Reserve (Fed), Jerome Powell, declaring via social networks that he was impatient that the latter is no longer in office and once again demanding interest rates.
On the values side, Netflix has progressed upstream of the publication of its quarterly results, after the fence. On the other hand, Alphabet declined following a judgment rendered by an American federal court according to which Google, whose group is the owner, illegally dominated two online advertising markets. Note, also, the leap of 14% of Eli Lilly, which reported very positive trials concerning an experimental treatment promoting weight loss.
Value in sight
Forvia shines in second place in the SBF 120 index after having recorded a 2.1% increase in turnover in the first quarter in organic, to 6.7 billion euros. The activity of the automotive supplier experienced an organic decline of 5.1% in the United States but jumped 5.8% in Asia. The group has confirmed its 2025 objectives including turnover between 26.3 and 27.5 billion euros, an operating margin between 5.2 and 6% of turnover, a net cash flow greater than or equal to 2024. The growth in overall turnover has exceeded 80 points of basis the evolution of global automobile production, up 1.3% from January to March, according to data established by S&P Global Mobility. Forvia has indicated that the increase in customs duties and the rise in commercial conflicts represent significant challenges for the global economy and are likely to cause increased volatility of automotive volumes.
Friday April 18
The markets are closed for Good Friday
Laurent Grassin, with Reuters, AFP, Circle Finance and AOF
