(BFM Bourse) – The CAC 40 posted its first decline of the week, penalized by new fears over the customs duties desired by Donald Trump. The index ended down 0.5% this Wednesday, January 8.
Donald Trump rules the markets, even though he is not yet at the helm of the world’s largest economy. Its desire to introduce customs surcharges is fueling investors’ fears, especially as January 20 approaches, the inauguration day of the elected president.
This Wednesday, a very cold wind blew through the Paris Stock Exchange. The CAC 40 closed down 0.49% at 7,452.42 points, recovering a little after losing 1.2% at the lowest of the session, after the publication of a CNN article reporting that Donald Trump was considering to declare a national economic emergency to legally justify universal customs duties.
No final decision made
CNN’s sources specify that no final decision has been made and that the president-elect’s teams are exploring other legal avenues to be able to introduce the customs surcharges promised by Trump during his presidential campaign.
On Monday, the CAC 40 jumped after the Washington Post reported that these customs surcharges could be limited to certain sectors.
In the midst of this customs saga, investors learned this afternoon of the job creations of the private firm ADP in the United States, an imperfect prelude to the official figures which will be revealed on Friday. According to the monthly ADP/Stanford survey, the private sector created 122,000 jobs in December, which is less than expected.
The “minutes”, or the report of the last meeting of the Fed’s monetary policy committee, will also appear on the program for this Wednesday. Note that on Thursday, Wall Street will be closed on the occasion of the national day of mourning decreed by the White House to pay tribute to former President of the United States Jimmy Carter, who died last month.
Thales star of the day
On the values side, Thales signed the largest increase in the CAC 40 this Wednesday evening (+4.2%), supported by the declarations of Donald Trump, who called, on Tuesday evening, the member countries of the Treaty Organization the North Atlantic (NATO) to devote 5% of their GDP to military spending, compared to a minimum of 2% currently set by the organization.
The defense group is followed by Edenred which gained 3.7%, driven by the strong growth published this Wednesday by its competitor Pluxee, which for its part gained 15.8%.
Vallourec gained 7.2% after announcing that it had achieved its objective of reducing net debt to zero one year in advance.
Exosens climbed 9.05% after publishing preliminary 2024 results and delivering its outlook for 2025. Vallourec gained 5% as the group announced having achieved its net debt reduction objective a year in advance to zero.
Trigano returned 2.3% after reporting a fall in sales in the first quarter caused by overstocks of motorhomes.
On other markets, the euro lost 0.3% against the dollar to 1.0308 dollars, penalized by CNN information on customs duties wanted by Trump. Oil has turned lower. The March contract on North Sea Brent returns 1.1% to $76.19 per barrel while the February contract on WTI listed in New York also loses 1.1% to $73.40 per barrel.
Sabrina Sadgui – ©2025 BFM Bourse
