The CAC 40 index lost 11.49 points around 10:25 a.m., to 6,350.53 points, after already three consecutive sessions of decline.

In a month of August marked by very low trading volumes, the market fell back after a strong summer rise, with investors doing an about-face in their anticipation of the future monetary policies of central banks.

“Caution is in order in the markets where we anticipate a continuation of aggressive monetary tightening to control inflation,” observes Susannah Streeter, analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown.

“As gas prices in Europe hit record highs, investors are increasingly concerned that a hike in key central bank rates, combined with rising energy prices, will push the economy into a long recession. “, adds Michael Hewson analyst at CMC Markets.

The Dutch TTF futures contract, the benchmark for the European natural gas market, paused on Wednesday at 267.150 euros per megawatt hour (MWh) around 10:25 a.m.

Since the start of the week, it was up 9.18%.

"This situation is increasing the pressure on struggling European economies, which depend on gas to power energy-intensive industries. Soaring gas prices are expected to rekindle the flames of inflation in Europe, heightening expectations for energy rationing," warns Streeter.

The euro suffered from this darker macroeconomic context while the dollar remained strong, buoyed by the prospect of an intransigent US central bank (Fed) on inflation.

The euro was still moving below the parity threshold with the dollar, the day after a low for almost 20 years.

Around 10:40 a.m. Wednesday, the euro fell (-0.24%) against the greenback at 0.9946 dollars.

Crédit Agricole punished

The European Central Bank (ECB) on Tuesday imposed a fine of a total of 4.8 million euros on the Crédit Agricole bank and two of its subsidiaries for a breach of capital reporting rules, after the cancellation of a first sanction by European justice.

The title lost 1.20% to 9.25 euros per share around 10:15 a.m.

OVHcloud loses a member

The French data host OVHcloud lost 2.91% to 13.36 euros per share at SBF120.

The company announced Tuesday the departure of its chief financial officer and executive vice-president Yann Leca.

© 2022 AFP