Paris (AFP)

The Paris Bourse was on the defensive Monday morning (-1.12%) in a tense geopolitical context with the prospect of Iranian reprisals against the United States and the threat of American sanctions against Iraq.

At 09:38, the CAC 40 index yielded 67.5 points to 5,976.11 points. On Friday, it finished stable at 6,044.16 points, new high since July 2007.

"This beginning of the year is marked by the sharp rise in tensions between Washington and Tehran. Donald Trump undoubtedly wants to avoid a war, but who knows in what mechanism the United States put its finger in deciding to assassinate the Iranian general the most popular, and who was also close to Ayatollah, "said Tangi Le Liboux, analyst for Aurel BGC.

Oil prices rose to 4% on Friday shortly after the announcement of the death of powerful Iranian general Qassem Soleimani before finishing up 3.5% for Brent in London and 3.1% for WTI At New York.

Three days after the elimination of Qassem Soleimani in Baghdad by the American forces, the tension increased again in the Middle East.

The Iraqi parliament passed a resolution on Sunday calling for an end to the presence of American troops in the country, a vote that led the United States to brandish the threat of sanctions against Baghdad.

Meanwhile, U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to strike 52 targeted sites in Iran on Sunday if the Islamic Republic attacks American personnel or sites in retaliation for the death of General Soleimani.

In addition, Germany, France and Britain on Sunday called on Iran to abandon measures that are contrary to the 2005 nuclear deal, while Tehran has just announced that it is free of all limit on uranium enrichment.

In terms of statistics, activity in services in China experienced its lowest growth rate in December since May 2019. The other activity surveys of purchasing managers in services, known as "PMI" indices, published a almost everywhere on Monday, will pass into the background, "said Mr. Le Liboux.

Oil stocks continued to benefit from the rise in oil prices: Total gained 1.73% to 50.58 euros, TechnipFMC advanced 0.71% to 19.26 euros.

On the other hand, the automobile and aeronautical sectors suffered: Renault lost 2.23% to 40.31 euros and PSA 2.81% to 20.73 euros. Europcar Mobility dropped 5.18% to 0.38 euros. Air France-KLM fell 4.32% to 9.03 euros.

Casino dropped 2.17% to 39.64 euros. The large distributor gave up on Sunday opening its Géant hypermarket in Vals-près-le-Puy (Haute-Loire) with only automatic cash registers, after a first tense experience in mid-December in the presence of demonstrators in particular.

© 2020 AFP