The Paris Bourse started this week on a stable note. In the first exchanges, the Cac 40 is a few points from its Friday night levels, at 6,685.65 points (+ 0.03%).
The same is true for the moment in the United States, where the major indices could start not far from their last closings, which nevertheless set new records for the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite. Investors were relieved by Jerome Powell’s remarks at the Jackson Hole Symposium, in which the chairman of the US Federal Reserve showed no eagerness to begin cutting back on Fed asset purchases, even though the tapering should start well this year. He also said that there will still be a long way to go for the conditions for a rate hike to be met.
An intervention ” limited to the minimum »
“J. Powell’s long-awaited intervention at the Jackson Hole Symposium was kept to a minimum. While the Fed chairman could not avoid raising the prospect of a reduction in his asset purchase program, given the increasing difficulties in justifying its maintenance and the desire of a growing number of members of the monetary policy committee to put a stop to it, which means that he tiptoed there, summarizes Véronique Riches-Flores, economist and founder of RF Research. No timetable, no formal commitment; J. Powell contented himself with stating what is no more and no less than obvious, namely that ‘if conditions evolve as expected, it may be appropriate to start reducing securities purchases before the end of the year ‘… It remains to be seen whether the first part of the formula will be accessible and on this point, it remains much more vague. »
Focus on employment
On the economic front, the high point of the week is the publication, Friday, of employment figures in the United States for the month of August. The Bloomberg consensus expects the creation of 750,000 jobs, after the 943,000 in July. The unemployment rate would fall from 5.4% to 5.2% of the working population.
In the meantime, Monday’s program is rather calm on paper. We will learn about the consumer confidence index and indicators of the business climate and economic sentiment in the euro zone, but also inflation in Germany for the month of August. In the United States, it will be the promises of home sales for July and the Federal Reserve’s manufacturing survey in Dallas for the current month.
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