The Paris Stock Exchange fell slightly in early trading this Wednesday after recovering 1.67% over the two previous sessions. The activity also promises to be limited due to a lack of direction from Wall Street, closed for “Juneteenth”, which commemorates the emancipation of slaves in the United States. Around 9:10 a.m., the Cac 40 lost 0.2% to 7,614.5 points.
It didn’t take long to see Nvidia go from second to first in market capitalization in the world. Just two weeks. After having climbed onto the second step of the podium, in place of Apple, it is now the leader Microsoft which has fallen. With an increase of 3.5% on Tuesday in New York, the market capitalization of the graphics chip manufacturer amounts to 3.335 billion dollars, exceeding that of Microsoft by around 20 billion. The creator of the iPhone is worth 3.290 billion dollars.
The market capitalizations of Nvidia (green), Microsoft (blue) and Apple (red) as of June 18, 2024. FactSet
Since the start of the year, Nvidia has gained 174%, still galvanized by the profound transformation of the technology industry towards artificial intelligence, which has pushed the largest companies to use Nvidia products as the backbone of their development. in this matter. “ Investors are trying to ride the Nvidia bandwagon for as long as they can said Ken Mahoney of Mahoney Asset Management.
Consumer sluggishness, but the Fed keeps a cool head
The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite recorded new all-time highs, also supported by the hope of seeing the Federal Reserve relax its monetary policy soon. May’s weak retail sales figures illustrate signs of fatigue among the American consumer – a key driver of growth – which could encourage the Fed to lower interest rates. “ The data clearly reflects a shift in consumer behavior, who are becoming more conservative, feeling the pressure of high interest rates and depleting savings (accumulated during the pandemic, editor’s note), commented Rodrigo Catril, strategist at National Australia Bank. Importantly, we expect this trend to continue over the coming quarters “.
All members of the central bank who spoke yesterday at various events recalled that more evidence of a slowdown in inflation was needed. At 3.3% over one year in May, this is still too far from the objective.
UK inflation returns to 2%
But, in the United Kingdom, for the first time since July 2021, the annual consumer price index reached the 2% target set by the Bank of England in May. The slowdown of three tenths compared to April is in line with the consensus. Services inflation, closely monitored by the BoE due to its predominance in the British economy, rose from 5.9% to 5.7% in May. The central bank is however expected to maintain its key rate at 5.25% at its meeting tomorrow, having previously declared that a return of inflation to target was not sufficient in itself for it to initiate a new phase in its monetary cycle. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg expect it to make the first of two rate cuts planned for this year in August. Money markets are more hawkish and only consider a reduction in November.
