Paris (AFP)

The Paris Stock Exchange remained well oriented at midday on Thursday (+ 1.30%), determined to move forward for its first session of 2020 taking advantage of the commercial upturn and the measures taken by the Chinese central bank .

At 1:27 p.m. (12:27 p.m. GMT), the CAC 40 index gained 77.48 points to 6,055.54 points. Tuesday, December 31, after half a session, it had finished in equilibrium (-0.07%) totaling a gain since January 1, 2019 of 26.37%.

The Parisian odds started positively and further improved its gains during the morning.

Wall Street was preparing to open up. The futures contract on the Dow Jones Industrial Average index rose by 0.57%, that on the broad S&P 500 index by 0.54% and that on the highly technological Nasdaq by 0.70%.

"The upward trend continues", the markets being "still supported by hopes of a lull on the front of trade tensions," said Franklin Pichard, chief executive officer of Kiplink Finance.

According to Pichard, "a good number of investors are betting on the continuation this year of the factors behind the good performances" of last year, "such as the monetary easing led by the central banks, the relaxation of trade relations between the United States and China or even Brexit which is entering a phase offering more visibility. "

"At this stage," he said, "everything militates for a year favorable to actions without hoping to repeat the score for 2019".

The announcement by Donald Trump of the signing on January 15 of the partial trade agreement concluded with China after months of confrontation with punitive customs duties was a good mood.

The ceremony will take place in the presence of senior Chinese officials, said, without further details, the tenant of the White House, who is to go "at a later date" to Beijing where discussions for the "phase 2" of this agreement will begin. .

A firm date was eagerly awaited as the discussions in recent months, often tense, gave rise to contradictory information.

Since March 2018, Beijing and Washington have imposed reciprocal tariffs on hundreds of billions of dollars of goods, which is severely affecting the Chinese economy and slowing the global economy.

According to Tangi Le Liboux, a strategist for broker Aurel BGC, the decline in the reserve requirement of the Chinese central bank, "which provides an additional stimulus to the Chinese economy", was also a support factor for the index.

"On the stock market, the year will really start next week," he said, however, because "many investors will not be present on Thursday or tomorrow".

The Chinese central bank announced on Wednesday a further cut in the reserve requirement rate imposed on banks, a measure intended to free up around 114 billion dollars to boost lending and revive the economy.

In terms of indicators, manufacturing activity in China experienced its lowest growth rate in four months in December, according to the purchasing managers index (PMI) for the sector.

- Airbus always at the party -

In the field of values, Airbus kept the head of a CAC 40 index massively in the green, with an increase of 3.13% to 134.56 euros.

The automotive sector was also on the rise after figures released by the Committee of French Automobile Manufacturers (CCFA).

Peugeot gained 2.77% to 21.89 euros and Renault 0.19% to 42.26 euros while the two national manufacturers posted an increase of 0.88% over the year with 1.25 million vehicles registered.

Banks were also moving forward dynamically, like BNP Paribas, up 1.82% to 53.79 euros, Société Générale 2.27% to 31.72 euros and Crédit Agricole 2.21% to 13.21. euros.

© 2020 AFP