Paris (AFP)

The Paris Stock Exchange was still at a standstill (+ 0.03%) Wednesday at midday, running out of fuel to exceed its recent highs in a market which is already preparing for the truce of confectioners.

At 13.36 (12.36 GMT), the CAC 40 index gleaned 1.95 point to 5.970.21 points, in a trading volume of 1.2 billion euros. The day before, it had finished down 0.39%.

The Parisian coast opened to balance and stayed there all morning.

For its part, Wall Street was also preparing to open without trend. The futures contract on the Dow Jones Industrial Average index gained 0.04%, that on the broad S&P 500 index 0.03% and that on the Nasdaq, with strong technological coloring, 0.05%.

"As expected, the opening of European markets has been generally sluggish", the latter evolving near equilibrium, with the exception of the London Stock Exchange, which benefits from the fall of the pound, said in a note Michael Hewson, an analyst at CMC Markets.

"As we are in the middle of the last full trading week of 2019, investors seem to be taking a much more cautious approach, the euphoria of a Sino-American easing and a new, mostly conservative British government coming stiffly blurring, "he added.

"The Ifo in Germany, the main meeting of the meeting in Europe, as well as the vote on the impeachment of Donald Trump in the House of Representatives across the Atlantic, should not animate much the markets, which will enter quietly during the Christmas period, "said Tangi Le Liboux, a strategist for broker Aurel BGC.

According to the Ifo barometer published Wednesday, the morale of German entrepreneurs rose more in December than expected by analysts, against the backdrop of optimism in the manufacturing and services sectors.

In addition, this Wednesday in the United States, the House of Representatives, controlled by the Democrats, will meet for a debate which will lead to the vote of the two impeachment articles targeting Donald Trump: abuse of power and hindrance to the smooth running of Congress.

As for the rest of the indicators, French growth should slow to 0.2% in the first quarter of 2020 and then return to its cruising speed of 0.3% in the second, according to INSEE.

Inflation figures for the month of November are also on the agenda in the United Kingdom and the euro zone.

- Featured mergers -

In the field of values, Peugeot was supported (+ 1.13% to 22.36 euros) by the announcement of a merger agreement between equals with the Italian-American Fiat Chrysler "to form the world's fourth largest automaker" .

Capgemini rose 1.33% to 110.35 euros, driven by the rejection, by the Paris Court of Appeal, of the request to suspend the takeover bid by the French IT giant on the technology group Altran (-0, 39% at 14.20 euros).

Ipsen plunged, however, 6.45% to 74.75 euros, sanctioned by the announcement of the departure in late December of the American David Meek, who was the group's general manager since July 2016, to become CEO of the American group FerGene.

Casino sank 3.22% to 41.84 euros, ballasted by a lowering of recommendation on the title to "underperform" against "keep" previously by Jefferies. The Autorité des Marchés Financiers sent two letters of observation to Casino and to the American activist fund Muddy Waters, but did not formulate grievances.

Imerys fell 2.27% to 36.24 euros after the announcement Wednesday of the appointment as new CEO from February 17, 2020, of Alessandro Dazza, who will join a group where he had notably been a member of the executive committee from 2013 to 2018.

Sodexo lost 0.52% to 105.05 euros, Edenred gleaned 0.20% to 45.96 euros and Natixis yielded 0.35% to 3.94 euros after the Competition Authority announced Wednesday to have inflicted 414 million euros in fines to the companies Edenred, Sodexo, Natixis Intertitres and Up, for an agreement relating to the exchange of information and a "foreclosure" of the restaurant voucher market.

Plastivaloire suffered (-11.05% to 6.92 euros) from a net profit down 38% to 24.6 million euros during its 2018-2019 financial year ended September 30, affected in particular by the " gloomy automotive market. "

© 2019 AFP