The Paris Bourse evolved in the greatest calm on this Christmas Eve, which saw the session end at 2:05 p.m., while Wall Street, which ended in further growth on Thursday, remains closed. Suffice to say that the trade volumes were extremely limited (537 million euros) and the trend almost non-existent. The Cac 40 ended symbolically down 0.28% to 7,086.58 points.
Since its creation on December 31, 1987, the Cac 40 has grown by 0.14% on average over this shortened day, taking into account that of 2021. It has advanced 18 times, posting its best performance in 1994 (+2 , 07%), and fell on 16 occasions, with a steepest decline of 1.21% in 2005.
Don’t miss the rally
Basically, fears about the virulence of the Omicron variant and its consequences on the economy continue to fade in the minds of operators, while the US statistics published in the last two days have proven to be solid, particularly on the level household spending and confidence. What to boost the morale of investors before Christmas.
” Much of the stock market rally this week can be attributed to exaggerated fears last week and relief to see the wave of selling stopsaid Jim Paulsen, chief investment strategist at Leuthold Group. Once the recovery started, cheap buyers did not want to miss the Christmas rally and took matters into their own hands. The S&P 500 closed Thursday night at a new record.
Reassuring studies on Omicron
According to studies from South Africa, people infected with Omicron are 80% less likely to be hospitalized than with other variants. Data which cannot be extrapolated to other countries, nevertheless underline these studies, and which could be explained by a higher rate of immunity within the population.
Another study, conducted in Scotland this time, suggests that Omicron is two-thirds less likely to be hospitalized compared to the Delta. The British Health Safety Agency confirmed the results on Thursday, saying that a person with the new strain has a 50% to 70% less chance of being admitted to hospital.