Paris (AFP)

The Paris Bourse dropped ballast Tuesday (-0.89%), taking a breath after its leap from the day before, which had been encouraged by a series of positive announcements.

The CAC 40 index fell by 40.18 points to 4.458.16 points, in a sustained trade volume of 4.4 billion euros. The day before, it had taken off by 5.16%.

The Parisian rating opened higher before losing steam and losing ground.

After soaring 5% on Monday, "it makes sense to see a market today that is a little more behind" and decompresses, said AFP Andrea Tuéni, an analyst at Saxo Bank.

It is a "consolidation in a market context which remains tense", fears concerning "the speed of recovery of the economies, the possibility of a second wave or the tensions between the United States and China "remaining present in the background," he added.

Rising oil, reassuring statements by the head of the Federal Reserve (Fed) Jerome Powell and announces encouraging results of a potential vaccine against Covid-19, the positive news punctuated the day Monday.

France and Germany have also proposed a recovery plan of 500 billion euros to help the European Union overcome the crisis caused by the pandemic, via an unprecedented mechanism for pooling European debt.

The words of the President of the Fed, who was heard this Tuesday before the United States Senate at the same time as the American Secretary of the Treasury Steven Mnuchin, remain "a source of rather important waiting for the markets", still noted Mr. Tuéni.

Mnuchin said shutting down the US economy due to the pandemic poses a "risk of lasting damage", but said the economy should be reopened in a "balanced way" and safe "in front of the Covid-19.

As for indicators, German investor sentiment improved in May, continuing the rebound in April, a sign of renewed optimism on the markets favored by the easing of containment measures in Europe, according to the ZEW barometer.

In terms of values, the automotive sector suffered from the 76.3% fall in the European market in April over a year, which particularly affected French manufacturers. Renault fell 10.85% to 16.94 euros and Peugeot 5.62% to 11.58 euros.

Sodexo was weighed down (-8.05% to 56.42 euros) in the wake of the results of its British counterpart Compass marked by a decline in profits.

The suspension of the AMF's ban on short (or short) positions and short sales (speculative practice to take advantage of a decline), affected securities which had been partly protected by this measure , like Klépierre (-12.95% to 14.29 euros) or Air France-KLM (-8.97% to 3.77 euros).

Rémy Cointreau was ballasted (-4.65% to 102.60 euros) by a lowering of the recommendation.

© 2020 AFP