(BFM Bourse) – The CAC 40 ended the session with an increase of 0.7% carried throughout the session by the announcement by Beijing of the lifting of the quarantine for people arriving from abroad in China. Luxury appreciated the news.
The Paris Stock Exchange is off to a good start for the last week of 2022. After being interrupted for three days, the CAC 40 thus closed the session on an increase of 0.7% to 6,550.66 points, this Tuesday. For the time being, the flagship index of the Paris marketplace limits its loss over the whole of 2022 to 8.4%.
In low volumes, the Paris market, like other European markets, was carried throughout the session by the announcement of the end of the quarantine in China.
Beijing announced Monday evening that from January 8 the country would no longer ask people arriving on Chinese territory to isolate themselves for eight days (five in hospital and three at home), bringing a final knife blow to its zero-Covid policy. Only a negative test of less than 48 hours will be required from the next month.
“It is certainly something that traders and investors have been hoping for for a long time, as China has remained very strict with its zero-Covid policy throughout this year,” underlines Naeem Aslam of AvaTrade. “Nevertheless, the recession remains a major concern for investors and traders, which should limit any corrective movement in the markets,” he adds.
These announcements “give rise to hopes of additional easing”, comments Andreas Lipkow, independent expert, quoted by AFP. However, the “very low” volume of transactions leads him to put the day’s gains into perspective, which must “be treated with caution”.
According to him, “the first two quarters of the coming year should again be characterized by uncertainty and high volatility in the stock markets”.
Luxury shone
China also announced that it would step up support for the catering and tourism sectors which have been hit hard by the pandemic.
Values sensitive to the evolution of the pandemic in China, luxury stocks carried the CAC 40. LVMH gained 2.4%, Hermès 2% and Kering 1.4%.
The airlines took off, after a short period of latency. Air France-KLM won 1.3% while the German Lufthansa took 1.6%. Safran, whose civil engine services business is partly dependent on the resumption of air traffic in China, gained 1.5%.
Contrary to the optimism that floats on the market, Ipsen fell by 0.4%. The group has received a full response letter from the US health authority regarding the application for approval of its palovarotene molecule (which extends the review period).
On the side of smaller caps, Metabolic Explorer plunged 14.5% after announcing a major financial restructuring involving banks and the State via Bpifrance.
On other markets, the euro gained 0.1% against the dollar at 1.0653 dollars.
Oil prices are gaining ground. Brent crude from the North Sea for delivery in February advanced 1.7% to 85.97 dollars a barrel, while WTI listed in New York for the same maturity also rose 1.7% to 80.94 dollars a barrel.
This while Russia announced at the end of the European session that it would prohibit from February 1 the sale of its oil to foreign countries which use the cap on the price of Russian black gold, set at the beginning of December at 60 dollars per barrel by the EU, the G7 and Australia.
Julien Marion – ©2022 BFM Bourse