Paris (AFP)

The Paris Stock Exchange remained largely in the green (+ 2.52%) at midday Tuesday, preferring to focus on the latest Fed measures and expectations of a potential US plan for infrastructure than on the risks of 'a second wave.

At 12:47 p.m. (10:47 GMT), the CAC 40 index rose from 121.3 points to 4,937.08 points. The day before, it had ended in decline of 0.49%, after a week generally very negative.

The Parisian rating has evolved markedly in green all morning.

Wall Street was preparing to open up. The futures contract for the Dow Jones Industrial Average index advanced 1.97%, that of the broad S&P 500 index 1.43% and the highly technological Nasdaq 1.36%.

The market is guided by two "drivers": on the one hand downward due to "the fear of a second wave of viruses" and, on the other hand, upward due to "the set of measures fiscal and monetary measures put in place to support growth, "notes Pierre Veyret, analyst at ActivTrades.

The markets favored the second lever on Tuesday, in the wake of the positive closing of the previous day's US markets.

Wall Street had thus risen with the announcement of the US Federal Reserve which planned to buy, from Tuesday, corporate bonds on the secondary market, where the already issued debt is exchanged, in order to help groups in lack of liquidity due to the crisis.

In addition, the American administration is preparing a support plan of 1,000 billion dollars to revive the first world economy, according to Bloomberg, which is based on sources close to the file. According to a preliminary version, this program would prioritize conventional infrastructure such as roads and bridges.

This news overshadowed health data, which had strained the markets in recent sessions.

The epidemic situation in Beijing is "extremely serious", according to the mayor, who speaks of a "race against time" against the new coronavirus.

The city reported on Tuesday morning of 27 new contaminations in the past 24 hours, bringing to 106 the total number of cases recorded for the past five days, notably on the gigantic wholesale market of Xinfadi. Thirty surrounding residential areas have been quarantined.

In terms of indicators, the morale of German investors went up again in May to return to its highest level since March 2006.

In the United States, retail sales and industrial production are also expected.

Fed President Jerome Powell's Senate hearing will also be watched with interest by investors.

- The automobile sought -

In the securities field, the entire CAC 40 index was moving in the green. Those most in difficulty during the last sessions benefited the most.

Renault took off from 6.21% to 23.26 euros and Peugeot from 5.60% to 14.06 euros.

The banks were not outdone. Societe Generale climbed 4.16% to 15.01 euros, Crédit Agricole 4.37% to 8.41 euros and BNP Paribas 6.11% to 36.40 euros.

ArcelorMittal (+ 7.05% to 10.01 euros) was also in demand, as was Elior (+ 10.73% to 6.35 euros) which also benefited from an increase in its recommendation to "buy" by Citi.

Finally, Total rose 2.97% to 35.73 euros, despite the estimate of the International Energy Agency that oil demand in 2021 will remain much lower than in 2019 because of aviation.

© 2020 AFP