Paris (AFP)

The Paris Bourse closed in the red on Friday (-0.54%), prolonging the losses of the previous day, suddenly showing itself to be less serene in the face of a further expansion of the spread of the new coronavirus outside China.

The CAC 40 index fell by 32.5 points to 6,029.72 points, in a sustained trade volume of 4.39 billion euros. The day before, it had ended in decline of 0.80%.

Over the past week, it has lost 0.65%. Since January 1, it has increased by 0.86%.

After opening lower, the Parisian rating is back in the green slightly before losing ground.

"The market is becoming aware that the impacts of the coronavirus will be prolonged and that indicators will deteriorate at the macro and microeconomic level", observes Yann Azuelos, portfolio manager at Mirabaud France.

The American PMI, which measures the evolution of activity, fell to its lowest level since 2013, standing at 49.6 points in February, all sectors combined, against 53.3 points in January.

Conversely, the market had benefited earlier today from better-than-expected data in the euro zone, where the growth of private activity accelerated slightly in February and even reached a six-month peak.

Added to this, according to him, "technical effects of closing positions" at the end of the month that support the market.

The appearance of new cases of contamination with the coronavirus in South Korea, in Iran, as well as in Chinese prisons, revived Friday concerns over the spread of an epidemic which has already killed more than 2,200 people.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has called on the international community to "strike hard" against this virus which has infected more than 75,000 people in China and 1,100 elsewhere to date.

Its director general assured that it was still possible to contain the epidemic even if the "window of fire" to stop it narrowed.

An international team of experts led by WHO will travel to Wuhan, the cradle of the new coronavirus epidemic, on Saturday.

If the number of new daily cases in China fell for four consecutive days, it started to rise again (with at least 889 new cases against 673 the day before), according to the Chinese authorities.

In terms of values, the automotive, raw materials, tourism and luxury sectors, the most sensitive to the economic slowdown, have declined.

Renault and Peugeot fell 3.26% to 6.82 euros and 2.25% to 20.66 euros respectively. The equipment supplier Valeo also fell by 4.75% to 26.24 euros after a drop of 43% in its net profit.

In luxury goods, LVMH fell 1.29% to 404.50 euros, like Kering (-0.86% to 561.60 euros) and Hermès (-0.74% to 694.60 euros) .

In tourism, Accor declined 1.26% to 38.50 euros. Pierre & Vacances sold 0.82% to 30.30 euros.

© 2020 AFP