Paris (AFP)

The Paris Bourse was won by the magic of Christmas early Friday afternoon (+ 0.70%), settling above 6,000 points for the last major session of the year, marked by the simultaneous expiration of several contracts and options.

At 3.15 p.m. (2.15 p.m. GMT), the CAC 40 index rose from 41.72 points to 6.014.00 points, after reaching up to 6.016.98 points, a high since 20 July 2007, in a trading volume 2.8 billion euros. The day before, it had ended up slightly by 0.21%.

After a timid start in the green, the Parisian rating gained confidence in the morning, finally breaking its annual record.

The New York Stock Exchange opened higher on Friday, continuing its trend of the last few sessions and hoping to end the week at new levels: the Dow Jones rose 0.39% and the Nasdaq 0.33%.

The main indices of the New York Stock Exchange had broken new records Thursday, ignoring the impeachment of Donald Trump, synonymous with impeachment proceedings for the American president, and the publication of contrasting indicators: the Dow Jones had won 0, 49% and Nasdaq 0.67%.

We are witnessing an "ambient euphoria, in particular in the United States, where all the indices are at historic highs", noted in a note Franklin Pichard, managing director of Kiplink Finance.

"The latest advances on the commercial front are largely responsible for the sustained increase in recent weeks," he added.

The Trump administration still intends to sign "the trade deal with China" which was released on Friday "in early January," said Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin on Thursday, saying the legal revision of the text would not lead to renegotiation.

"I am very confident" that the treaty will be signed earlier this year, he said on CNBC.

"Under these conditions, why should we not witness a euphoric end of the year? The underlying trend remains bullish and can resume at any time, given the smaller volumes approaching the end of year celebrations" , said Mr. Pichard.

It is "also the last session of the four witches (concomitant expiration of several types of contracts and options on indices and stocks) in 2019, an event which marks the end of the year on the markets," recalled for his share Tangi Le Liboux, a strategist from the broker Aurel BGC.

British MPs are also voting this Friday to give initial support to Prime Minister Boris Johnson's Brexit deal, launching the adoption process which is expected to allow the UK to leave the European Union on January 31.

In terms of indicators, in Germany, consumer sentiment should drop slightly in January, canceling out the shy rebound observed in December, according to the Gfk barometer, while in France, INSEE reports a slight slowdown in household consumption in November.

In the United Kingdom, growth for the third quarter has been revised upwards to 0.4% despite the ups and downs caused by the Brexit process, even if the trend remains slowing.

The growth of the United States recorded in the third quarter was confirmed at 2.1% on an annual basis, according to the government's final estimate published on Friday.

- The automobile lagging behind -

In terms of values, Showroomprivé (SRP) slipped 19.5% to 1.27 euros after warning on Thursday that it would not ultimately return to profitability in the second half, in a context deemed difficult.

The automotive sector suffered like Valeo (-2.09% to 31.79 euros), Faurecia (-1.11% to 49.10 euros), Michelin (-0.95% to 110.00 euros) , Renault (-0.39% to 43.26 euros), Peugeot (-0.40% to 22.21 euros) or Plastic Omnium (-0.52% to 24.82 euros).

CNP Assurances sold 0.75% to 17.26 euros and Natixis rose 0.55% to 3.99 euros. Mutual group BPCE, its listed entity Natixis, CNP Assurances and La Banque Postale announced Thursday that they have defined the new contours of their collaboration within the future public financial pole, whose birth is scheduled for 2020.

© 2019 AFP