Let's make no mistake: yesterday's rebound on the few open markets, notably Paris and Frankfurt, took place in tiny volumes and was not necessarily indicative of any trend. When the financial press isn't sure what to say, they talk about "cheap buybacks". Monday January 2, 2023 was therefore a fine session of cheap buybacks. When Atos, Orpea and Solutions 30 gained 20%, 10% and 8% respectively, to top the SBF120, something unnatural is going on. All right, there was some speculative news on Atos (Airbus would be interested in a minority stake in Evidian's subsidiary), but we must be careful not to overdo it. Investors have therefore held out zero days in 2023 to return to high-beta stocks, but this is a fairly natural move: new year means new year. good resolutions quick capital gains if the market turns around. All that's taken is no longer to be taken. This movement was particularly marked in France yesterday, where the CAC40 gained 1.87%. Nor was it weak in Milan (+1.9%) or Amsterdam (+1.8%). In Frankfurt, the DAX was more measured (+1.1%), even though its highly leveraged components were at the forefront, with Zalando up by almost 6% and the automotive sector in good shape.

The real start of the 2023 stock market season therefore takes place today, with the first trading session of the year on Wall Street, in London or in Hong Kong. That's not to say that investors won't get excited about the new vintage, too, after generally being scattered in jigsaw-like bits and pieces in 2022, in the words of the famous economist Raoul Volfoni. As a result, bargain-basement buybacks in Europe are likely to continue for some time. As a result, stocks of dubious quality, such as Orpéa and others could still benefit from this, so the smart guys of January 2 will surely have been right to return to the markets earlier than the others. The stock market isn't always a complicated story, with rational people constructing amphigoric theories with long-termist aspirations. Sometimes, it can also be :
In other news, gas prices have continued to fall in Europe, because the weather has decided for the time being to skip winter and go straight to autumn and spring. Surprising as it may seem, the Elysée didn't see it coming, according to my information. It's probably still good news for manufacturers and consumers, although I'm not sure whether those who have already had to renegotiate their contracts will benefit in the near future. And it's probably bad news for climate change. In China, the economy is still in full swing, as we await the arrival of the Lunar New Year on January 22, which will help stir up the country's population. Manufacturing activity is still disrupted by the pandemic, as shown by the latest Caixin PMI indicator released last night. Beijing's complete shift in health strategy from "no one sick" to "everyone sick" is as worrying as it is hopeful for normalization in the months ahead. The Care Bear scenario consists in thinking that all Chinese will infect each other without leaving their borders, and then develop a form of immunity, making subsequent waves manageable. The Voldemort scenario involves recontamination of the rest of the world with new, unknown and vicious variants. The Financial Times revealed this morning that the Europeans have offered to deliver vaccines to China free of charge. Perhaps the ones we have on hand because no one is vaccinating anymore?
I'll stop the persiflage here and return to the financial markets. In Asia, the Japanese stock market is still on a post-New Year's break until tomorrow. Elsewhere, China is back on the rise, up 0.8% on the mainland and 1.9% in Hong Kong. India and Korea, where shares were quoted yesterday, are trading at around breakeven. Australia, on the other hand, rallied sharply by more than 1%, weighed down by its financials and pandemic fears from China. European leading indicators are trending downwards in the pre-opening session for the indices that soared yesterday, while the trend is more neutral for the markets that were closed. The CAC40 opened stable at 6598 points.
Today's economic highlights
S&P will publish the second reading of the December manufacturing PMI indices for Germany, the UK and the USA in particular. There will also be the first estimate of German inflation for December (2:00 p.m.) and US construction spending for November (4:00 p.m.). This morning, the Caixin Manufacturing PMI for December came in at 49 points, i.e. in contraction territory and below expectations (49.2).
L'euro is trading at USD 1.0676. Ounce of gold strengthened to 1841 USD. Oil retreats after the previous day's gains, with a Brent at USD 85.54 per barrel and U.S. light crude at USD 85.54 per barrel. WTI to USD 80.01. The return on US debt over 10 years reached 3.87%. The bitcoin flirts with USD 16,700.
The main changes in recommendations
In France
Important (and less important) announcements
In the world
Important (and less important) announcements
Readings

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