Paris (AFP)

The Paris Bourse moved in the red Monday morning (-0.24%), investors cautiously approaching a potentially crucial week on the Sino-US trade, with the possible imposition of new customs taxes.

At 09:35, the CAC 40 lost 14.01 points to 5,857.90 points. On Friday, the index finished sharply up (+ 1.21%) to 5,871.91 points.

"The week ahead should dictate the trend of the end of the year," said a note Christopher Dembik, head of economic research at Saxo Bank.

It is obviously the trade war that will first occupy investors with a possible new salvo of taxes imposed by Washington on more than 150 billion dollars of Chinese imports on December 15.

The goods covered include mobile phones and sportswear.

At the end of last week, however, Beijing made a gesture of goodwill, saying it would exempt pigs and soybeans from the United States, while Trump's economic adviser, Larry Kudlow, said that an agreement was "always close".

"The Trump administration wants to put tougher intellectual property laws in place, so these decisions on agricultural products should not be enough to reach an agreement," said David Madden, analyst at CMC Markets .

This week, the markets will also monitor the latest moves of the year from the major central banks.

"The Fed and the ECB will take stock of their monetary policy and even if no major decision is expected, this type of event always crystallizes expectations," said Mr Dembik.

Finally, the UK elections on Thursday will certainly have an impact on the markets, as the result will set the tone for the future Brexit.

On Monday morning, investors were aware of two indicators.

Germany recorded a trade surplus up to 20.6 billion euros in October, a good surprise for a struggling economy in recent months.

In France, the Bank of France confirmed its forecast of a slowdown in growth in the fourth quarter to 0.2% due to a slowdown in activity in construction and industry in November.

On the side of values, Air France-KLM took 1.12% to 10.39 euros after having announced a number of passengers up 1.3% in November, compared to the same period last year, including a rise on the long-haul.

© 2019 AFP