Paris (AFP)

The Paris Bourse continued its upward trend on Friday morning after the Christmas break, buoyed by the hope of an imminent signing of a partial trade agreement between the United States and China.

At 9:25 a.m., the CAC 40 index gained 15.52 points to 6,045.07 points. Tuesday, after a shortened session, he finished without direction at 6,029.55 points, a level unmatched for 12 years. The Parisian place remained closed Wednesday and Thursday after four consecutive sessions in the green.

The volume of trade should be low for this post-Christmas recovery, a few days before New Year.

The two world powers agreed in December to a truce in their customs tax escalation, pending the signing of a preliminary agreement, which could be signed in January. This "pushes investors not to remain sellers at the end of the year," stress the experts at Mirabaud Securities Geneva (MSG).

But phase 2, which remains to be negotiated, promises to be particularly delicate because it concerns technology transfers.

"Investors are now worried about whether such performances will be repeated again next year," say MSG experts.

Question marks remain in effect on world growth, which will depend heavily on the trade showdown between the United States and China, as well as on the aftermath of Brexit.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in the daily Les Echos "very worried" about the feasibility of negotiations on the exit of the United Kingdom from the European Union by the end of 2020 seen the little time (11 months) left.

In terms of statistics, market players are awaiting figures from the American Energy Information Agency (EIA) and the weekly report on oil stocks in the United States while oil prices rose at their highest on Thursday high level since mid-September.

In Japan, the economy was showing signs of weakness: industrial production fell further in November (-0.9% on a month).

ArcelorMittal, value in essence very sensitive to the Sino-American trade conflict, pranced at the top of the CAC 40, up 1.80% to 16.19 euros. Thales was at the bottom of the ranking, down 0.90% to 93 euros.

Renault advanced 0.72% to 43.55 euros while Jun Seki, number three of the Japanese car manufacturer Nissan, allied with Renault, will soon resign.

© 2019 AFP