Paris (AFP)

The Paris Bourse ended on a sharp rebound (+ 1.70%) Wednesday in the wake of the good performance of Wall Street, the market opting for optimism in the lead up to a much anticipated speech by the president of the Fed, Jerome Powell, expected Friday.

The CAC 40 index advanced 90.84 points to finish at 5,435.48 points, in a low trading volume of 2.61 billion euros. The day before, he had finished down 0.50%.

After opening slightly higher, the Paris rating continued its momentum, constantly gaining ground.

"There is nothing new that justifies a rebound", but "the market follows sympathetically" the good performance of Wall Street encouraged by "some results of rather positive companies, which showed that the strength of the American consumer was always there, "says Marco Bruzzo, managing director at Mirabaud AM.

Mainly, investors are waiting for the publication of the minutes of the last monetary policy meeting of the US central bank (Fed), scheduled for the evening.

They are especially "in expectation of the comment of the boss of the US Federal Reserve Jerome Powell Friday because it is he who will give the monetary policy of the next quarters," says Mr. Bruzzo, interviewed by AFP. "The market is expecting announcements of strong rate cuts and could be a little disappointed," he warns.

US President Donald Trump Wednesday criticized Powell's "lack of tact", accusing him of once again slowing growth by refusing to cut rates, urging the Fed to "wake up" at its next meeting. monetary policy scheduled for 18 September.

Paradoxically, he believes that the United States is "very far from a recession" while arguing in favor of a further decline in Fed rates to regain competitiveness and boost growth.

The central bank cut the cost of credit by a quarter of a point (0.25 percent) in late July for the first time in more than a decade, to support growth in the face of the weakening global economy.

Meanwhile, the Trump administration's trade war against China with punitive tariffs and a weaker dollar will not help to redress trade imbalances, IMF economists warned on Wednesday.

In Europe, investors continue to monitor the Italian political turmoil.

The statistics were exclusively American: home resales rebounded in July slightly above analysts' forecasts and crude oil inventories fell after two weeks of gains.

© 2019 AFP