Paris (AFP)

The Paris Bourse ended up 0.44% Wednesday, investors are pleased with the gesture of commercial easing of China which allowed them to wait more serenely the meeting of the European Central Bank Thursday.

The CAC 40 index gained 24.85 points at 5,618.06 points, in a volume of exchanges increased by 3.8 billion euros. The day before, he finished stable (+ 0.08%).

"The market is clearly at a high level and is rather optimistic, but it is mostly the good news from China today that allows it to hold up well despite the anxious expectation of the ECB meeting tomorrow," said Andrea Tuéni, an analyst at Saxo Bank.

Anxious to limit the impact of the trade war on its economy, China announced Wednesday the cancellation of customs surcharges on 16 categories of products imported from the United States, before further negotiations scheduled for October in Washington.

For its part, six weeks after having hinted at a panoply of stimulus measures, the ECB will be at the foot of the wall Thursday and markets with it.

At a minimum, it should leave its bank refinancing rate at zero, while lowering the deposit rate. In parallel, could be announced a tapering rate system to reduce the interest burden weighing more than 7 billion per year on banks.

But the trickiest will be the decision to revive or not the purchase of debt, a measure that markets call their wishes.

"The expectations of investors around the meeting tomorrow are very high, which induces a real risk of disappointment."

"There is still the desire not to take too much risk, because all cards can be redistributed tomorrow according to the decisions of the ECB," however nuanced Mr. Tuéni.

The values ​​of luxury and technology have rebounded, taking advantage of the Chinese gesture.

Kering rose 3.79% to 467.50 euros, as did LVMH (+ 1.34% to 378.15 euros).

STMicroelectronics jumped 3.76% to 18.08 euros, also taking advantage of the presentation of the new range of Apple iPhone.

Casino took 3.19% to 44.89 euros while Carrefour fell 0.30% to 16.84 euros. According to BFM Business, which does not identify its sources, Carrefour would reflect on a takeover offer of Casino, information denied in the wake of Carrefour.

Iliad, parent of Free, gained 1.78% to 81.42 euros after reaching an agreement with Altice, owner of the channels BFMTV, RMC Découverte and RMC Story, for the resumption of broadcasting of these channels via Freebox .

Fleury Michon was penalized (-2.82% to 31 euros) by a net loss in the first half of 2019, a result that the group attributes to soaring pork prices.

EDF rebounded (+ 4.30% to 10.55 euros) after having lost nearly 7% the day before in the wake of the announcement of a possible defect in the manufacture of nuclear reactor components supplied by its subsidiary Framatome.

© 2019 AFP