The Paris Bourse extended its rebound from last week, supported by new S&P 500 records on Wall Street.
At the end of a very empty session, in this period of truce for confectioners, the Cac 40 ended with a gain of 0.76% to 7,140.39 points, less than 1% of the historic highs reached in November, supported in particular by the increase of nearly 2% of the tester Eurofins Scientific. Stellantis, Danone and Alstom also rose around 2%.
Very low trading volumes totaled only 1.7 billion euros.
In the rest of Europe, the London Stock Exchange remained closed, as, on the other side of the globe, the stock exchanges of Hong Kong and Sydney.
Retail sales up during the holidays
Financial centers have generally progressed last week, supported by good American indicators, especially as several studies suggest that, if the Omicron variant is more contagious than the previous strains, vaccination can greatly reduce the risk of hospitalization. The main White House medical adviser, Anthony Fauci, however, called for vigilance, stressing that the Omicron variant may cause congestion in hospitals even if the symptoms are apparently less severe.
“Contamination at Omicron is on the rise in the United States and Europe, and although the markets have priced in that it is a less virulent strain, the disruptions in goods and services due to the isolation of employees, especially in the airline sector, seem to be the main consequence for the moment. This should only weigh on the nerves of investors in the short term, while the theme of recovery in 2022 remains relevant ”, explains Jeffrey Halley, market analyst at Oanda, in a note dated this morning.
In the United States, despite uncertainties about the pandemic, retail sales for the holiday season rose 8.5% in the period from November 1 to December 24 compared to last year, according to MasterCard SpendingPulse data.
“This bodes well for the economy as the New Year dawns. The rally will continue even if the fear of the virus remains predominant in the market ”, according to Peter Cardillo, chief economist at Spartan Capital Securities, quoted by Reuters.