The control room of Euronext, the company that manages the Paris Stock Exchange (AFP/Archives/ERIC PIERMONT)
The Paris Stock Exchange continued to accelerate on Friday, ending up 0.61% and close to 7,500 points, investors regaining a taste for risky assets such as shares.
The flagship CAC 40 index gained 45.07 points to 7,491.96 points, its highest closing level since April 25. Over the week, it took 1.04%, an advance made during the last two sessions.
On Friday, the Parisian rating opened higher and rose steadily throughout the day when many financial products expired, likely to cause significant movements, recalls Thierry Claudé, manager of Kiplink Finance.
This session, known as “the three witches”, often brings more volatility. The increase in the CAC was also greatly reduced at the end of the session, the index being above 7,520 points half an hour before the close.
The trend is the same on the other European markets and Frankfurt even broke its absolute record, which dated from November 2021. The European Eurostoxx 600 index reached its highest level for fifteen months.
That of the CAC 40, at 7,581.26 points in session, also seems accessible.
Investors welcome “the good news on the negotiations on the postponement of the American debt ceiling”, relates Mr. Claudé, with positive statements from both the Democratic and Republican sides.
Without an agreement, the world’s largest economy could find itself in default of payment from the beginning of June.
The Paris market is “very resilient” for Mr. Claudé. “All the attempts to drop in the last few days have failed” while “the slightest positive trigger makes it go up”.
Even the “sword of Damocles” represented by the risk of a further hike in the US central bank’s key rates does not affect their morale, reports the manager.
On the other hand, the speeches of the central bankers in this direction pushed up the rates on the loans of the European States all week. The French 10-year rate reached 3.00%, against 2.85% at the end of last week.
Semiconductors have juice
The semiconductor sector was buoyed by several news items, from Micron’s announcement of major investment in Japan on Thursday and the special plan unveiled by the British government on Friday.
STMicroelectronics took 0.94% to 41.54 euros on Friday and signed the second best weekly performance of the CAC 40 (+6.57%).
Among the other driving companies in the index, there are many sectors linked to the economic situation, such as transport with Alstom, (+ 11.65% over the week to 27.32 euros), Stellantis (+ 3.25% to 15.43 euros), banking with Société Générale (+5.10% to 23.19 euros), or equipment like Schneider Electric (+4.07% to 164.60 euros).
© 2023 AFP
Did you like this article ? Share it with your friends with the buttons below.
