Paris (AFP)

The Paris Bourse rose slightly on Wednesday, still focused on ongoing discussions on the US stimulus plan in Congress.

The CAC 40 index took 22.45 points at 13:02 (11:02 GMT) to 5,050.44 points. The day before, it had jumped 2.41%.

On Wall Street, futures contracts were heading towards an upward opening: the Dow Jones took 0.96%, the Nasdaq 0.92% and the S&P 500 0.80%.

After a lower opening, the Parisian price quickly returned to the green, stabilizing around 5,040 points.

The news is dominated by the stimulus plan for the US economy which has been negotiated in Congress since the end of July, and whose negotiations seemed to stall on Tuesday, after the pessimism displayed by the Republican leader of the US Senate Mitch McConnell.

"Most market players still expect a compromise," between Democrats and Republicans judge Milan Cutkovic, analyst at AxiCorp.

However, the extension of the discussions could cause "nervousness" on the markets in the coming days, he warns.

The four decrees signed by Donald Trump on Saturday, extending certain aid measures for people affected by the economic repercussions of the pandemic, risk being challenged in court since it is in Congress that the US Constitution confers most budgetary decisions from the country.

Covid-19 continues to develop in the United States. The evolution of the last few days has left the hope of a stabilization followed by a decrease in the intensity of the virus, but this optimism has been a little "put into perspective", in particular by the resumption of the number of new infections in California, according to Tangi le Liboux, analyst of the broker Aurel BGC.

"It could be that the contaminations remain at a high level, without necessarily decreasing in the short term", he explains.

The consumer price index in the United States in the early afternoon is the only major indicator of the day. The markets will also scrutinize the speech of the boss of the Federal Reserve of Dallas, Rob Kaplan, expected at the end of European session.

The UK saw its economy shrink "record" by 20.4% in the second quarter and is officially facing its worst recession.

In terms of values, telecom operators rose in the wake of the Swiss cable operator Sunrise which jumped 26.10% to 108.70 Swiss francs after a takeover offer from the American Liberty Global. In Paris, Orange gained 1.30% to 10.05 euros and Iliad 1.67% to 167.85 euros.

Banks and insurance companies still occupied the front of the index: Societe Generale gained 1.97% to 14.49 euros, Crédit Agricole 1.75% to 9.19 euros, BNP 2.01% to 38.24 euros and Axa 0.81% to 17.97 euros.

© 2020 AFP