Paris (AFP)

The Paris Bourse rose 0.82% at mid-session Wednesday, hoping for a quick agreement on the stimulus plan in the US Congress, and satisfied with the indicators of economic activity for the morning.

At 12.55 p.m. (10.55 a.m. GMT), the CAC 40 index gained 40.12 points to 4,929.64 points. On Tuesday, it ended up 0.28%.

Wall Street was about to open in the green: the futures contract on the flagship Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.70%, that on the extended S&P 500 index by 0.32% and the Nasdaq, with coloring. technological, 0.54%.

"Investors have welcomed the progress made in discussions between Republicans and American Democrats on a new stimulus package", amounting to 1,000 billion dollars, said Pierre Veyret, technical analyst at Activ Trade.

Debates are still stuck around the amount of the exceptional allowance paid by the federal state to unemployed people, but discussions continue between the presidents of the two congressional assemblies, belonging to the Democratic Party, and the Republican presidential administration.

However, "market predictability is getting more and more difficult," Veyret said, pointing to "multiple drivers pulling stock prices in different directions."

Activity indicators in services showed progress in Europe. In France, the index reached 57.3, the strongest growth since April 2018, although a little below the preliminary estimate.

A value greater than 50 marks an expansion, a value lower than this limit a contraction.

The remainder of the session will be marked by the ISM non-manufacturing index as well as the report on employment in the private sector in the United States.

At the same time, "the rise in the Covid-19 contamination figures continues to cause uncertainty," said Milan Cutkovic, analyst at AxiTrader.

The novel coronavirus pandemic has killed more than 700,000 people worldwide since its discovery in China in December, according to an AFP count from official sources.

"Investors are concerned that after a relatively stable summer, new, more severe restrictions may follow," continues Cutkovic.

On the other hand, "the positive news on the vaccine front continue to suggest much stronger growth by the end of 2021", for his part, believes Sébastien Galy, strategist at Nordea Asset Management.

- Aeronautics on the front -

In terms of values, the French hotel giant Accor had almost wiped out all of its opening losses (-0.04% to 22.29 euros) after the publication of its results and a savings plan which will result in the loss of 1,000 jobs worldwide.

The CAC was led by the stocks of the aeronautical industry, such as Safran (+ 2.88% to 94.94 euros), Airbus (+ 2.79% to 67.51 euros) or Thalès (+ 1.96% at 65.56 euros).

Total rose 1.57% to 33.72 euros, driven by the highest for five months in oil prices, and before the weekly publication of oil stocks in the United States.

Transgene benefited (+ 7.24% to 1.60 euros) from the sale of part of its minority stake in the Chinese pharmaceutical company Tasly BioPharmaceuticals to a Chinese investment fund for 22.2 million dollars (19 million d 'euros).

The image technology specialist group Technicolor grew 2.71% to 2.75 euros after the launch of a capital increase of 330 million euros, carried out as part of its safeguard plan approved in early July.

© 2020 AFP