French Equities: Luxury goods fuel the CAC 40 Sentiment Index

  • SERIX® on CAC 40 has risen steadily since beginning of this year
  • Positive economic data and luxury goods demand likely to have driven sentiment
  • In August 161.9 million securitised derivatives were traded on Spectrum Markets

Spectrum Markets (“Spectrum”), the pan-European trading venue for securitised derivatives, has published its SERIX® sentiment data for European retail investors for August, showing a steady rise in sentiment towards the CAC 40 since the beginning of the year. The French benchmark index comprises the 40 leading French companies traded on the Paris Stock Exchange.

The SERIX® value indicates retail investor sentiment, with a number above 100 marking bullish sentiment, and a number below 100 indicating bearish sentiment. (See below for more information on the methodology).

While the CAC 40 index itself remained fairly stable, trading between 7,000 and 7,500 throughout most of the year, monthly sentiment towards the index started off bearish in January at 80 points and hit 100 in August for the first time this year, as optimism improved.

Market opinion

“Retail investors have watched some major events unfold in France this year, not least Macron’s pension reforms in April, passed despite massive criticism and aiming to give the French national budget better stability. After the protests faded out in May, retail investors were given further cause for optimism as GDP increased by 0.5 percent on the previous quarter, driven in particular by exports,” explains Michael Hall, Head of Distribution at Spectrum.

“Luxury goods have benefitted from steadily rising global demand, and we’ve seen this play out in the CAC 40 where the largest stocks in the index, in terms of market capitalization, are the luxury goods and cosmetics manufacturers LVMH, L'Oréal and Hermès. LVMH is currently the most valuable group in the euro zone, following a brilliant share price rally over the last five years, while Hermès showed an even more impressive performance, which has also pulled up the CAC 40,” Michael Hall adds.

Spectrum August data

In August 2023, 161.9 million securitised derivatives were traded on Spectrum, with 32.6% of trades taking place outside of traditional hours (i.e., between 17:30 and 9:00 CET).

87.3% of the traded derivatives were on indices, 9.1% on currency pairs, 2.7% on commodities, 0.8% on equities and 0.1% on cryptocurrencies, with the top three traded underlying markets being DAX 40 (26.1%), S&P 500 (23.9%), and NASDAQ 100 (21.9%).

Looking at the SERIX® data for the top three underlying markets, the DAX 40 and the NASDAQ 100 both moved out of the bearish zone at 100 and 101 respectively, and the S&P 500 increased from a bearish 89 to a neutral 99.

august serix graph

Calculating SERIX® data

The Spectrum European Retail Investor Index (SERIX®), uses the exchange’s pan-European trading data to shed light on investor sentiment towards current development in financial markets.

The index is calculated on a monthly basis by analysing retail investor trades placed and subtracting the proportion of bearish trades from the proportion of bullish trades, to give a single figure (rebased at 100) that indicates the strength and direction of sentiment:

SERIX® = (% bullish trades - % bearish trades) + 100

Trades where long instruments are bought and trades where short instruments are sold are both considered bullish trades, while trades where long instruments are sold and trades where short instruments are bought are considered bearish trades. Trades that are matched by retail clients are disregarded. (For a detailed methodology and examples, please visit this link).

About Spectrum Markets

Spectrum Markets is the trading name of Spectrum MTF Operator GmbH. Headquartered in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, it is a pan-European trading venue for securitised derivatives aimed at financial institutions and their retail investors. Since launch, trading has been available in: Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Sweden, Norway, the Netherlands, Ireland, and Finland.

Acting as a MiFID II regulated trading venue authorised and supervised by BaFin, the exchange uses a uniquely open architecture system to allow investors to trade with increased choice, control and stability. Through its pan-European ISIN, 24/5 trading services and its own proprietary venue, Spectrum enables a guaranteed baseline level of liquidity over a range of products and is able to swiftly and safely match a significant number of orders and process multiple quotes every second.

Further information can be found at spectrum-markets.com

Media contact

Liminal
T: +44 203 778 1103
E-Mail: vasiliki@liminalcommunications.com

Disclaimer

All information contained herein is for information purpose only and addresses exclusively Members of Spectrum Markets and persons interested in becoming a Member of Spectrum Markets. Nothing herein constitutes an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to purchase any securitised derivatives listed on Spectrum Markets or any product described herein. Spectrum Markets does not provide financial services, such as investment advice or investment brokering. Prospective retail investors can trade such products only with their brokers. The information herein does not constitute investment advice or an investment recommendation. Any information provided does not have regard to the specific investment objectives, financial situation and needs of any specific person who may receive it.