Paris (AFP)

The Paris Bourse ended Friday on heavy losses (-3.57%), rolled by a new strengthening of trade tensions between China and the United States.

The CAC 40 index lost 198.41 points to end at 5,359 points, in a very large trade volume of 5.7 billion euros. The day before, he had finished up 0.70%.

Over the past week, the index has lost 4.48%. But it continues to show an increase of 13.28% since January 1st.

The Parisian coast has suddenly fallen into the red at the opening, in the wake of Wall Street, after Donald Trump has relaunched hostilities with China by announcing the extension to September 1 to all Chinese products of additional customs duties .

On Friday morning, Beijing countered that he would have no choice but to retaliate if Donald Trump put his threat into action.

This "shows the lack of consistency of communication Trump", while only a few days ago, the US administration said that "the discussions were going well," said AFP Alexandre Baradez, analyst at IG France.

The expectation of a trade agreement and an accommodating gesture during the monetary policy meetings was, according to him, the two pillars of the rise registered by the stock markets since the beginning of the year.

But "the Fed has taken a minimalist decision without serving more than what the market expected, and Trump disappoints on the commercial side," said Baradez.

"It's more than just a correction, it's a warning movement," said Frédéric Rozier, portfolio manager at Mirabaud France, told AFP. "It's not impossible for the market to come down a little lower in the next few days."

In this context of exacerbated risk aversion, the publication of subdued US indicators also weighed.

The US trade deficit narrowed in June as a result of a drop in imports, particularly from China and the European Union, but exports fell further, a sign of the economic slowdown. In addition, job creation in the United States fell sharply in July while the unemployment rate remained stable at 3.7%, according to the Ministry of Labor, which also revised down the number of jobs created in June.

"The market is starting to integrate the fact that if statistics are bad, or worse, in a context where trade tensions resume, there will not necessarily be a miracle to expect from the Fed," said Baradez.

The US Central Bank, under constant pressure from Donald Trump to boost the economy, cut interest rates for the first time in 11 years Wednesday but said it did not pave the way for a long series of declines rate, leaving investors unsatisfied.

- Hecatomb on the CAC 40 -

In the field of securities, "the market penalizes even more hard cyclical stocks, linked to growth and trade sanctions," said Mr. Rozier.

ArcelorMittal fell 6.64% to 13.35 euros, like Eramet (-4.52% to 39.67 euros).

Faurecia fell 6.04% to 40.12 euros, as Valeo (-6.79% to 26.20 euros), or Peugeot (-3.74% to 20.36 euros).

STMicroelectronics fell 6.56% to 15.81 euros.

Crédit Agricole lost 4.88% to 10.34 euros. The listed entity of the mutual banking group published a net profit penalized in the second quarter by an increase in the cost of risk.

Only value in the green CAC 40, the Unibail defense took 0.65% to 123.30 euros.

© 2019 AFP