Paris (AFP)

The Paris Bourse remained installed in the green Thursday at midday (+ 0.44%), not being overwhelmed by the new outbreak of fever between China and the United States.

At 12:56 p.m. (10:56 a.m. GMT), the CAC 40 index took 22.57 points to 5,059.69 points. The day before, it had finished down 1.32%.

The Parisian rating has been rising slightly since the opening.

Wall Street was also preparing to start in the green. The futures contract on the flagship Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.38%, that on the broader S&P 500 index by 0.36% and the technology-heavy Nasdaq by 0.86%.

"Equity markets in Europe are posting decent gains as relations between China and the United States have been under pressure for 24 hours," said David Madden, an analyst at CMC Markets.

The European stock market was "a little impacted by the resurgence of tensions" yesterday, also noted Christopher Dembik, head of economic research at Saxo Bank, judging however that "this new escalation in tensions is not really worrying but since it occurs in the middle of summer, it creates a little volatility ".

Washington on Tuesday ordered Beijing to close its consulate in Houston, accused of being an "epicenter" of China's espionage in the United States, reaching a new level in the escalation between the two great powers. The Chinese authorities immediately threatened "retaliation".

Investors were also following the plenary session of the European Parliament dedicated to the recovery plan and the long-term budget while the situation remains very difficult on the health front with more than 15 million cases of the new coronavirus, more than half of which are United States and Latin America.

Council President Charles Michel defended Thursday in the European Parliament the agreement reached at 27 on the recovery plan and the long-term budget of the EU, saying that it was "a signal of confidence, robustness and solidity ".

As for indicators, the business climate in France continued to recover in July and German consumer morale should for its part improve further in August, according to the Gfk barometer.

In the United States, weekly claims for unemployment benefits are also expected.

- Publicis at the top -

On the value side, the results season animated the odds, with in particular the soaring of Publicis (+ 13.40% to 30.29 euros), propelled by results exceeding expectations, even if the advertising group published a net profit divided by more than two, because of the pandemic.

Soitec gained 3.03% to 108.70 euros, the market focusing on maintaining its forecast of stable sales over the entire year, despite a turnover down 4.9% in the first quarter of its postponed fiscal year 2020-2021.

STMicroelectronics rose 3.56% to 27.66 euros after better than expected results even if the semiconductor manufacturer published a net profit almost halved (-43.7%) in the second quarter of its fiscal year, caught up by the crisis.

Dassault Systèmes fell by 2.35% to 156.15 euros, investors worried about a profitability forecast slightly revised downwards while the group also announced a growth in its turnover of 11% in second trimester.

The automotive sector took full advantage of the good direction of the market, Renault in the lead with a jump of 6.82% to 25.54 euros. Peugeot took 2.45% to 15.07 euros, Valeo 3.26% to 23.75 euros and Faurecia 3.69% to 35.73 euros.

Only Plastic Omnium was penalized (-1.66% to 19 euros) by its plunge into the red in the first half, linked to the collapse of the global automotive market.

Ubisoft benefited (+ 4.17% to 72.92 euros) from a first quarter of its 2020-21 fiscal year marked by a 17.6% increase in its turnover.

© 2020 AFP