Paris (AFP)
The Paris Bourse ended sharply Wednesday (-1.70%), clouded by a new upsurge in trade tensions between the United States and China.
The CAC 40 index fell by 90.57 points to 5.222.12 points, in a volume of exchanges increased by 4.1 billion euros. The day before, it had closed down 0.44%.
The Paris rating began to fall and further increased losses over the course of the session, to briefly lose more than 2%.
"The market today is focused on the trade tensions between the United States and China," said AFP Mikael Jacoby, Head of Continental Europe Brokerage Oddo BHF Securities.
"We are facing yet another episode" of this clash but in terms of microeconomic news, no real reason justifies a significant decline in the index, he said.
In response to recent US sanctions, Chinese telecom giant Huawei on Wednesday announced a seizure of US justice against the Trump administration, while Beijing threatens to reduce its exports of rare earth metals essential to the high-tech sector.
The world leader in 5G (the fifth generation of mobile networks) was recently blacklisted in the name of national security, preventing US companies from selling technology equipment.
These trade tensions are "perhaps the main risk, the main threat to the global economic environment and simultaneously to financial stability," said ECB Vice President Luis De Guindos.
According to Mr. Jacoby, beyond the mistrust of this case, "we are in a somewhat negative context in general", which encourages investors to sell.
On the indicator side, the rise in consumer prices in France slowed slightly in May and the unemployment rate in Germany rose slightly for the same month.
? 2019 AFP