Paris (AFP)

The Paris Stock Exchange resisted as best it could (-0.02%) Friday to threats related to Hong Kong by limiting risk taking.

The CAC 40 index lost 0.89 points to close at 4.444.56 points, in a low trading volume of 2.9 billion euros. The day before, it had finished down 1.15%.

Since January 1, the Paris market has lost 25.65%. However, it posted an increase of 4.10% over the week.

"The risk has shifted from Covid-19 to the deterioration of Sino-US relations with a very controversial security law announced by Beijing," said Stephen Innes, strategist at AxiCorp.

"With public holidays in Europe and the closing of the American and British markets on Monday, volumes are reduced," and investors are "not willing to add risk before Tuesday," he added.

China has decided to impose a "national security" law in Hong Kong aimed at prohibiting "treason, secession, sedition (and) subversion".

The United States has condemned this initiative, the American diplomat Mike Pompeo urging Beijing "to reconsider its disastrous proposal, to respect its international commitments and to respect the high degree of autonomy of Hong Kong".

While China presents this bill as essential to the stability of this international financial center, the Hong Kong Stock Exchange closed Friday down more than 5%.

This bill aims, according to pro-democracy activists, to crush any dissident movement in Hong Kong, shaken last year by seven months of large-scale demonstrations in favor of democracy.

It "overshadowed the People's National Assembly of China, which was to be devoted to growth targets and stimulus measures," said Innes.

Indeed, for the first time in its recent history, Beijing has given up setting a growth target for the current year, failing to be able to quantify the impact of the pandemic.

Instead, China praised its strategy for running the Covid-19 during the plenary session of the National People's Congress (PNA), the annual mass of Communist power.

These apprehensions are added to that always significant of a new outbreak of contaminations as the economies deconfine.

The new coronavirus, which has affected more than 5 million people and killed more than 332,800 people, continues to gallop in Brazil and Russia.

- Mining at half mast -

Raw materials lagged behind, like ArcelorMittal (-1.56% to 8.22 euros).

Renault increased its losses (-2.86% to 17.20 euros), the Minister of the Economy Bruno Le Maire having affirmed that the group played "its survival" and had to commit in particular on the maintenance in France of certain activities, like in Flins.

Its competitor Peugeot, however, gained 1.19% to 11.53 euros.

Leading the CAC 40, Carrefour climbed 3.08% to 13.21 euros, followed by Legrand (+ 3.04% to 59.04 euros).

Axa dropped 0.76% to 15.33 euros. The insurer will have to compensate a Parisian restaurateur who had brought him to court after his refusal to compensate for the operating losses of one of his establishments, closed in the context of the health crisis.

© 2020 AFP