L'Oréal became the most valuable company listed in Paris, overtaking LVMH with a market capitalization of €203 billion versus €201 billion for the luxury group at the close on the 15th. L'Oréal shares have risen 5% this year, while LVMH has fallen more than 35%, reflecting pressure on global luxury demand from China’s economic slowdown and worsening conditions in the Middle East. LVMH shares dropped 2.64% on the day, compared with a 0.78% decline for L'Oréal. Analysts linked L'Oréal’s relative resilience partly to the lipstick effect, in which consumers choose lower-cost indulgences during economic uncertainty. LVMH also slipped out of Europe’s 10 largest companies by market capitalization for the first time since 2017, while Bernard Arnault lost his position as Europe’s richest person to Zara founder Amancio Ortega in Forbes’ real-time ranking.