Paris (AFP)

The Paris Bourse was regaining ground (+ 0.72%) Thursday at midday, being convinced of a commercial upturn after new promises by Donald Trump and massive purchases of American products by China.

At 13:30 (11:30 GMT), the CAC 40 index took 40.33 points to 5,624.13 points, in a trade volume of 885 million euros. The day before, he had finished down 0.79%.

The Parisian coast opened slightly behind, hesitated for a while before choosing to climb.

Wall Street was preparing for its part to open slightly higher. The Dow Jones Industrial Average index futures contract was 0.22%, the S & P 500 broad index was 0.18% and the Nasdaq, with a strong technological color, was at 0.09%.

"The markets have decided to give credit to statements by Donald Trump, according to which an agreement with China could arrive faster than expected," said Tangi Le Liboux, a strategist of the broker Aurel BGC.

"The stock indexes started off cautiously, but then gained momentum during the session, gained by optimism about Sino-US trade," said David Madden, an analyst at CMC Markets.

"We have already heard such comments before, but the mood is no less good," he added.

The fact that China claimed Thursday that it had bought "substantial" quantities of US pork and soybeans, also gave a more concrete dimension to the relaxation after more than a year of trade war.

The policy and the questions it raises, however, remain at the heart of the session, between the launching of the impeachment procedure against the American president and the lively debates in the United Kingdom just weeks before the official Brexit date.

"Markets remain buoyed by headwinds and are facing an infinity of political scenarios, all more uncertain than the others, both in the United States and Europe," said Le Liboux.

Investors will also monitor a speech by European Central Bank (ECB) President Mario Draghi in the afternoon, especially as a German member of the bank's management resigned on Wednesday. full internal sling.

On the indicator side, German consumer sentiment is expected to rise in October, according to the GfK barometer. Growth in lending by euro area banks to the private sector continued to accelerate in August.

A third estimate of GDP in the United States is also on the agenda.

- Trigano diving -

In securities, Dassault Systèmes took the lead in the CAC 40 index (+ 3.40% to 129.35 euros), supported by the resumption of monitoring of its title, with a recommendation to "overweight" by Morgan Stanley .

Quadient (formerly Neopost) continued to have the wind in its sails (+ 7.22% to 20.78 euros), boosted by an increase in its recommendation to "buy" by Societe Generale, the day after a good publication.

Casino fell by 2.16% to 45.32 euros while Rally, the parent company group under safeguard procedure since late May because of its financial difficulties, announced want to extend the observation period for six months dedicated to the establishment of a company backup plan.

Trigano plunged 19.34% to 73.60 euros, weighted by sales down in the fourth quarter and below expectations.

© 2019 AFP