Paris (AFP)
The Paris Bourse fell into the red (-0.96%) Monday at midday, feverish in the face of the first results of companies and divided between hope for a gradual recovery in activity and fears aroused by the vertiginous fall oil prices.
At 1:01 pm (11:01 GMT), the CAC 40 index lost 43.22 points to 4,455.79 points, in a trading volume of 794 million euros. On Friday, it finished up 3.42% sharply.
After starting out in the green, the Parisian rating hesitated on the procedure to follow, and finally switched to negative territory.
For its part, Wall Street was moving towards a declining opening. The futures contract on the Dow Jones Industrial Average index lost 1.61%, the broad S&P 500 index 1.52% and that of the Nasdaq, with a strong technological coloring, fell by 1%.
"This morning, the stock market hesitates between coronavirus, oil, China (fall in GDP, editor's note) and quarterly results", summarizes in a note Franklin Pichard, the managing director of Kiplink Finance.
"Indeed, this week will first be marked by a large series of business publications", including 17 within the CAC 40, he continues.
First signs of improvement on the health front in several European countries, coupled with hopes of treatment against Covid-19, allowed the European and American stock markets to end on a positive note last week but the mood was clearly more hesitant this Monday.
Deeming the coronavirus "under control", Germany began its deconfinement on Monday, a slow and delicate operation in a cloistered Europe for weeks, still bruised by the pandemic but impatient to revive its economy.
France, Spain and Italy, which are recording declining numbers of patients and deaths, after weeks of increases, are also preparing for the first measures of deconfinement.
"From now on, the markets will have to navigate between partial or total deconfinement, the very strong incentive to telework which will delay a return to normal all the more, the need for emergency aid from governments and institutions, the fall of power of purchasing and bankruptcies in cascade ", notes Mr. Pichard.
"The risk of having new sessions marked by significant declines cannot therefore be excluded," according to Christopher Dembik, head of economic research at Saxo Bank.
The more so as the American crude oil was in free fall Monday, passing under 15 dollars the barrel, its lowest level for more than two decades, vis-a-vis a vertiginous fall of the demand and the American reserves which could reach saturation soon.
In the United States, if the State of New York is experiencing signs of improvement, the general balance sheet continues to increase rapidly and the 40,000 dead mark was crossed on Sunday. A showdown opposes President Donald Trump, who favors a rapid resumption of economic activity, against several Democratic governors.
In France, the confinement over eight weeks will result in 120 billion euros lost for the activity, while "forced savings" will reach 55 billion euros, according to a study published Monday by the OFCE.
- Vivendi carried by Universal -
In terms of values, first business publications enlivened the Parisian coast.
Vivendi took the lead in the CAC 40 (+ 3.44% to 21.34 euros), driven by sales which jumped 11.9% in the first quarter, to 3.9 billion euros, the media giant remaining towed by its major Universal Music Group (UMG).
Bolloré for its part took 2.07% to 2.47 euros after announcing a turnover of nearly 6 billion euros, up 5% in the first quarter thanks in particular to Vivendi whose music branch, UMG, increased by 13%.
Fnac Darty benefited for its part (+ 6.05% to 27.36 euros) from obtaining a loan of 500 million euros, of which 70% guaranteed by the State, to "secure the group's liquidity" and "prepare for the resumption of activities" affected by the Covid-19 epidemic.
Faurecia rose 2.24% to 31.93 euros despite sales which fell 13.5% in the first quarter, strongly affected by the Covid-19 crisis, but less than the overall market, while the group hopes to return to cash generation in the second half.
© 2020 AFP