The Paris Bourse set a new all-time high during the session, driven by the S&P 500 record on Monday, 69e This year. The explosion of contamination with the Omicron variant did not hinder the “Santa Rally” (end of year rally) which seemed to be compromised at the beginning of December. While the new strain is highly transmissible and can escape certain antibodies, it may also boost immunity against the Delta variant and reduce the risk of severe infection, according to a study published by two doctors at the Africa Health Research Institute, based in South Africa.
Trading volumes remain limited, however, with barely 700 million euros traded on Cac 40 securities and mainly focused on balance sheet wrapping operations three days before the end of the year. The weakness of the activity is also reinforced by the absence of the British participants while the London Stock Exchange is closed for Boxing Day.
No holiday curfew
Around 2:30 p.m., the Cac 40 gained 0.52% to 7,177.23 points after an all-time high at 7,187.76. The previous all-time high was reached on November 19 at 7,183.08. The index is currently gaining 29.3% in 2021, which would be its best annual performance since 1999 (+ 51.1%). The contracts futures March on US indices gained between 0.2% and 0.5%.
Global financial centers seem to want to resist the emergence of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus, which appeared at the end of November in South Africa, and the change of course of the main central banks towards a tightening of their monetary policy in an attempt to curb inflation. France and the United Kingdom have refrained from imposing a curfew or confinement for the end of the year celebrations by favoring vaccination. Paris has notably lowered the deadline for the vaccine booster to three months and imposed three days of teleworking and by recommending a fourth day from January 3. The collective catering group Sodexo paid for this announcement by losing 1.3%. Its competitor Elior yielded up to 1.5% before wiping out its losses.
Oil services in the spotlight
The oil services group CGG 2.8% advance in the wake of rising crude prices. The market continues to bet that demand will offset disruptions from the Omicron wave. Vallourec takes 3.2%, Technip Energies 1.9% and TotalEnergies 0.8%.
Biggest increase in the Cac 40, Veolia Environment rose 2.3% after hitting a new one-year high of 32.55 euros. The action now shows an increase of 68% over the year.
Note also the record of Teleperformance (+ 1.1%), as well as those of Michelin (+ 0.5%), Great (+ 0.8%) and Schneider Electric (+ 0.5%).