Paris (AFP)

The Paris Bourse continued on a frankly positive note Monday at mid-session (+ 1.37%), after having escaped an immediate return to the trade war even if various geopolitical tensions remain.

At 1:21 p.m. (11:21 a.m. GMT), the CAC 40 index gained 64.30 points to 4,759.74 points. On Friday, the Parisian rating ended in red (-1.59%).

Wall Street was preparing for its part to open without great direction. The futures contract for the Dow Jones Industrial Average index advanced 0.09%, that of the broad S&P 500 index 0.02% and that of the highly technological Nasdaq yielded 0.25%.

"Markets in Europe are catching up on some of the ground lost on Friday as President Trump adopted a softer than expected attitude towards China," said David Madden, analyst for CMC Markets.

"However, the current situation in the United States could well break market sentiment, with protests in many cities adding to an already feverish situation (...)," warns Pierre Veyret, an analyst at ActivTrades.

Investors, who had taken some profits at the end of last week due to the deterioration of the Sino-American relations, found their serenity at the opening of the Asian and European markets. They were also encouraged by signs of recovery in China, where manufacturing activity rebounded more than expected in May thanks to the lifting of restrictions due to the Covid-19 epidemic.

To denounce a controversial national security law that Beijing wants to impose on Hong Kong, Donald Trump asked his administration on Friday to end the preferential trade measures granted to this former British colony.

Market players especially feared that the American president would undermine the efforts made to reach a first phase of a trade agreement with China signed in January by advocating new trade sanctions against the Asian giant.

Trump also announced Friday that the United States is suspending the entry of Chinese nationals who pose a "security risk" to the country.

China returned the coin on Monday, threatening a "counterattack", saying the measures announced by Washington constituted serious interference in its internal affairs.

This week, "the unrest in the United States and the protests in Hong Kong, the meetings of the central banks (European, Australian and Canadian), the leading indicators PMI, the meeting of OPEC +, and the report on the American employment May be potential hot spots "for investors," said Stephen Innes, strategist at AxiCorp.

As doubt remains about the strength of the economic recovery linked to deconfinement, market operators will listen very carefully to the macroeconomic forecasts running until 2022 which will be presented Thursday by the President of the ECB Christine Lagarde.

The European Central Bank could at the same time strengthen its emergency program aimed at limiting the economic impact of the new coronavirus pandemic.

- The automobile is accelerating-

Commercial real estate was supported by the ongoing reopening of the economy. The largest increase in the CAC 40, Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield thus jumped 8.39% to 51.70 euros.

The automotive sector was buoyed by the first signs of recovery. Peugeot climbed 5.08% to 13.46 euros and Renault accelerated (5.02% to 21.22 euros). In addition, the president of Renault, Jean-Dominique Senard, assured Sunday that it had "no intention" to close the site of the car manufacturer of Maubeuge (North) but that the Foundry of Brittany (FDB) "n ' had no vocation "to remain within the constructor.

Sanofi rose 2.23% to 89.48 euros after finalizing the sale of almost all of its shares in its American partner Regeneron, for more than 11 billion dollars.

EDF rose 2.84% to 8.18 euros after a significant advance in the gigantic construction site of the Hinkley Point C nuclear power plant in England.

© 2020 AFP