Paris (AFP)

The Paris Bourse took the gallon at mid-meeting Thursday (+ 1.37%), emboldened by evidence of warming in trade relations between Beijing and Washington and by several solid results of companies.

At 1:40 pm (1140 GMT), the CAC 40 index advanced 73.87 points to 5,442.58 points, in a trade volume of 944 million euros. The day before, he had ended a slight decline (-0.34%).

For its part, Wall Street was preparing to open up. The index futures on the index Dow Jones Industrial Average took 0.98%, that on the index broadened S & P 500 0.89% and that on the Nasdaq, strong technological color, 1.16%.

Paris odds opened slightly lower and then quickly climbed to over 5.400 points, threshold under which it has been evolving for four consecutive sessions.

"There are some positive reports from China about the trade situation" that "supported the market and encouraged investors to buy," said David Madden, analyst at CMC Markets.

"A spokesman for the Chinese Ministry of Commerce said that escalating trade tensions were not good for China, the United States and the rest of the world," he said.

"Sino-US relations have been volatile recently but for now it looks like things are going in the right direction and this has persuaded investors to return to the market," the analyst added.

The Sino-US trade war has thrown the nerves of investors and fuel volatility markets that have been evolving in yoyo for months based on news on the subject.

Several hundred US companies and business groups urged the Trump administration on Wednesday to postpone the imposition of new tariffs on Chinese imports, saying it would destroy jobs and weigh on consumers.

In addition, new policies from Italy have also reassured the markets. The 5-star Movement (antisystem) and the Democratic Party (center left) agreed on Wednesday to form a government under the leadership of incumbent Council President Giuseppe Conte.

And in France, well-oriented macroeconomic indicators combined with several corporate earnings above expectations have helped brighten up the market. Economic growth reached 0.3% in the second quarter, slightly higher than originally announced (0.2%). And household spending on goods rebounded 0.4% in July, suggesting an acceleration in consumption.

Investors have also been paying close attention to the bond market for a few days to inquire about the state of the American economic situation, which is showing signs of deterioration.

The 10-year US Treasury bond rate was again lower than the 2-year yield on Thursday morning, a phenomenon generally regarded as an advanced sign of recession by economists.

- Bouygues tops the CAC 40 -

Bouygues advanced 6.04% to 34.57 euros, the market beating semiannual results above expectations.

Pernod Ricard gained 2.91% to 171.50 euros, after seeing its growth accelerate in its year 2018/2019.

Eurofins jumped 6.94% to 400.80 euros, its EBITDA jumped 28.9% to 370.9 million euros despite a cyber attack in June that weighed its net profit first semester.

Eiffage grew by 1.96% to 92.78 euros, its net profit in the first half of 2019 jumped by one third.

Sanofi rose 0.99% to 78.25 euros after having won the case with his partner Regeneron in their litigation with the US laboratory Amgen, who accuses them of violating certain patents to develop their Cholesterol Praluent.

In contrast, M6 tumbled 4.28% to 15.64 euros following a decline in recommendation by BofMAL.

© 2019 AFP