Paris (AFP)

The Paris Bourse remained affected (-0.38%) Wednesday at midday by fears aroused by the spread of the epidemic caused by the new coronavirus and its future repercussions on the entire world economy, but relativized somewhat.

At 2:02 p.m. (1:02 p.m. GMT), the CAC 40 index lost 21.6 points to 5,658.02 points, in a trading volume of 3.2 billion euros. The day before, it had ended in sharp decline (-1.94%).

After having opened in retreat, the Parisian odds experienced a heat stroke, stealthily losing more than 2% in the middle of the morning, but have limited its losses since. The index fell to 5,526.14 points in the morning, a lowest since October 10, 2019.

For its part, Wall Street was preparing to open in dispersed order. The futures contract on the flagship Dow Jones Industrial Average fell by 0.08%, that of the broad S&P 500 index gained 0.08% and that of the Nasdaq, with its strong technological coloring, gained 0.13%.

"China, the epicenter of the crisis, is still suffering and investors are worried that Europe will find itself in a similar situation soon," said David Madden, analyst for CMC Markets.

Viral pneumonia continued to spread worldwide on Wednesday, although the spread of the virus seemed to slow in China, which has about 78,000 infected people, more than 2,700 of whom died.

In Europe, Italy is the most affected European country, with twelve deaths and more than 300 people infected. In France, three new cases have been identified, including one fatal, a 60-year-old man who died in Paris.

The new coronavirus appeared on Tuesday in three new European countries: Austria, Switzerland and Croatia, as well as in Algeria. A first case of contamination was detected on Wednesday in Greece.

The spread of the coronavirus in Italy and Europe is "cause for concern", but "we must not panic," said European Commissioner for Health Stella Kyriakides on Wednesday.

The European official, however, warned that "health systems should prepare for an increase in cases and coordinate well".

"Fears of a pandemic have rocked the equity markets and airline stocks are struggling the most," said Madden.

- Peugeot tops the CAC 40 -

The European travel and tourism sector was particularly affected, like Accor (-2.33% to 34.40 euros).

In contrast, Peugeot SA rose 6.28% to 18.80 euros after a record net profit in 2019, up 13.2% to 3.2 billion euros.

Europcar Mobility Group jumped 8.49% to 3.60 euros, driven by a forecast of "strong growth" in net profit in 2020.

Danone rose 0.68% to 68.04 euros. The group has lowered its targets for 2020 and forecasts a 100 million euros impact of the coronavirus epidemic on its sales in the first quarter, China being its second market.

Hermès fell by 0.66% to 659.80 euros while the group estimated that it was "still too early" to assess the impact of the coronavirus on its activity, after another record year in 2019.

BioMérieux slipped 8.46% to 85.45 euros, the group aiming for 2020 a slightly lower sales growth, this time between 5 and 7% at constant exchange rates and perimeter.

Thales gained 3.60% to 94.42 euros thanks to a net profit of 1.122 billion euros in 2019, up 14%.

Edenred benefited (+ 2.29% to 49.49 euros) from robust results in 2019 including a net profit up 22.9%.

Suez gleaned 0.39% to 15.35 euros after results which clearly improved in 2019, again posting growth targets for 2020, the first year of application of its new strategic plan.

© 2020 AFP