The Paris Stock Exchange fell by 0.68% on Wednesday morning, penalized like the rest of the world markets by the return of fears of recession in the United States and the decline in the semiconductor sector.
The main CAC 40 index fell by 51.16 points to 7,522.86 points at around 09:50, after dropping nearly 1% in early trading. On Tuesday, the index lost 0.93% to end at 7,575.10 points.
On Wall Street, the Nasdaq index suffered the most on Tuesday: -3.26%, weighed down by a fall of more than 9% by the American chip giant Nvidia, victim of profit-taking like the rest of the microprocessor sector.
In the wake of this risk aversion in the United States, Asian stock markets fell on Wednesday, especially in Tokyo, where the Nikkei index lost 4.24%.
“Stress returns before the employment figures in the United States,” note analysts at Natixis CIB Research.
The trigger for this risk aversion was the publication on Tuesday of the ISM index concerning activity in the manufacturing sector, which remained in contraction in August in the United States, with a level of new orders at its lowest since May 2023.
“This suggests that global growth should remain limited in the coming months,” observes Xavier Chapard, from the research and strategy team at LBP AM.
The data revived recession fears that contributed to the market crash in early August, and sent all markets into a tailspin on Tuesday, including oil and bond yields.
Investors are awaiting the release of the crucial monthly U.S. employment report on Friday, and will also be looking at other data on the U.S. labor market throughout the week.
“The American employment figures published on Friday will be crucial,” particularly given the significant interest rate cuts expected by investors within the next year, estimates Xavier Chapard.
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In Europe, PMI activity indices for several eurozone countries are on the agenda for Wednesday.
Fleas chased away
In the wake of Nvidia’s 9.53% fall on Wall Street, the entire microprocessor sector on the markets.
In Paris, STMicroelectronics fell by 2.10% to 26.79 euros and Soitec lost 3.80% to 103.90 euros.
The semiconductor sector has benefited from the craze for artificial intelligence for almost two years. The value of Nvidia shares has notably increased sevenfold in two years.
But now investors are wondering whether these valuations are too high.
Ipek Ozkardeskaya, an analyst at Swissquote Bank, observes in particular “a sign of fatigue” among investors around the theme of chips and artificial intelligence.
Furthermore, according to several American media outlets, the American Department of Justice is investigating possible competition violations by Nvidia.
China weighs on luxury
New, sobering data has been released regarding the Chinese economy, an important market for the luxury sector.
The PMI activity index, calculated by the S&P Global consultancy and the Chinese economic media Caixin, showed on Wednesday that activity in the services sector in China slowed in August with one of the weakest growth rates this year.
LVMH fell by 2.27% to 655.80 euros, Kering by 2.12% to 248.75 euros and Hermès by 1.34% to 2,135 euros.
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