Paris (AFP)

The Paris Stock Exchange ended lower on Wednesday (-1.11%) at the end of a rather hesitant session where the relief linked to the deconfinements was finally swept away by the bad macroeconomic figures.

The CAC 40 index fell by 49.75 points to 4,433.38 points. The day before, it had finished on a clear rebound of 2.40%.

European markets "ran out of steam all day. Above all, they digested and eventually fell, but without it being possible to draw any real conclusions," said Daniel Larrouturou, an analyst at AFP. Dôm Finance.

The positive effect linked to the prospect of deconfinements - which are accelerating, especially in Germany, and which had offered market support in recent days - has faded somewhat.

The statistics of the day "did not really help, even if bad figures were expected anyway," added Larrouturou.

Work in the US private sector collapsed in April due to containment measures, with 20.236 million jobs lost, according to the monthly survey of the business services firm ADP, a figure however lower than expected.

The European Commission on Wednesday predicted a "historic" recession in the EU this year due to the pandemic, which it believes will result in a record fall in GDP of 7.7% in the euro zone, then a rebound of 6.3 % in 2021. In France, gross domestic product (GDP) is expected to fall by 8.2% in 2020.

For its part, Italy should enter into 2020 a "deep recession" with a GDP down 9.5% and public debt at its highest (158.9% of GDP).

As for the results, "again the markets are a little hesitant, they do not know how to accommodate publications inevitably impacted by the crisis and forecasts which especially report the lack of visibility," said Mr. Larrouturou.

- Axa in the green -

On the securities front, Axa gained 0.72% to 15.95 euros, on the strength of a solid balance sheet for the first quarter, even if it expects the crisis to have a "significant impact" on its performances for the rest of the year.

After a positive start to the session, Crédit Agricole finally lost 2.32% to 7 euros, even if the group assured that it could absorb the shock of the health crisis despite the tripling of its provisions which started its net profit in the first quarter.

Solvay gained 3.52% to 72.98 euros. The Belgian chemical group anticipates a second quarter even more difficult than the first, where its net profit fell by 18% because of the consequences of the pandemic. However, its operating profit remained almost stable.

© 2020 AFP