Paris (AFP)

The Paris Bourse improved its gains (+ 0.90%) Friday at midday, emerging from the apathy of recent days, even if the distribution sector was weighed down by the negative impact of social movements in France .

At 1:47 p.m. (12:47 p.m. GMT) the index gained 54.39 points to 6,093.42 points. The day before, it had finished very slightly in the green (+ 0.11%).

The Parisian odds opened up and gradually improved its gains throughout the morning.

Wall Street was preparing for its part to open in the green. The futures contract on the flagship Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.22% while the broader S&P 500 index gained 0.24% and the highly technological Nasdaq appreciated 0.37%.

"Immediately, investors welcome the new Wall Street records and reassuring Chinese macroeconomic indicators," said Franklin Pichard, chief executive officer of Kiplink Finance.

"The Chinese economy recorded 6.1% growth in GDP last year. Although this was the slowest pace since 1990, notably weighed down by the trade war, this development is in line with analysts' expectations. In addition, a start seems to be emerging on the side of Chinese industrial production, up 5.7% year-on-year in December, its best performance since March, "he added.

The Parisian market has been vegetating since the beginning of the week, already projecting beyond the effective signing since Wednesday of a first trade agreement, however highly anticipated between China and the United States on Wednesday, after 18 months of standoff .

- Penalized distribution -

In terms of indicators, after the Chinese figures, housing starts in the United States and industrial production for December are expected as well as consumer confidence in January.

In the securities field, the distribution sector was largely penalized by the announcement of the negative impact of the strikes on their results.

Fnac Darty plunged 7.68% to 46.76 euros after warning that its results in the fourth quarter would be affected by a shortfall of 70 million euros in December due to social movements against the pension reform that shook France.

Casino sank 6.06% to 36.41 euros, affected by the decline in 2019 of its turnover from 5.46% to 34.6 billion euros, due to the exit of the accounts of Leader Price, in the process of being sold to the German Aldi.

In their wake, Carrefour fell 0.10% to 14.82 euros.

Renault for its part took 0.27% to 39.64 euros. The group recorded a drop in its global sales of 3.4% in 2019, but a little less strongly however than the market, to 3.75 million vehicles, limiting the damage thanks to the success of its "low cost" range.

EDF jumped 6.6% to 10.82 euros. The government has developed a plan to reform the mechanism which allows EDF's competitors to access its nuclear production, a reform supposed to "protect the consumer" and guarantee the incomes of the incumbent operator, we learned Thursday from concordant sources.

© 2020 AFP