Paris (AFP)

The Paris Bourse ended up slightly up 0.20% on Friday after a day spent around equilibrium, running out of fuel the day after the ECB meeting and continuing to scrutinize American tech.

The CAC 40 index gained 10.21 points to 5,034.14 points.

It ended up 1.39% over the week but has remained down 15.96% since January 1.

The market remained on trend from Thursday, where announcements from the European Central Bank left it unresponsive.

It must be said that these were "in line with what was expected", underlines Andrea Tuéni, analyst at Saxo Bank.

On the hot issue, the euro, "we have not had many new elements", explains the specialist.

The chief economist of the European institution indicated on Friday "that there [would] be no room for complacency" on this subject, reinforcing the words of President Christine Lagarde, who said Thursday that the ECB "was monitoring carefully "the foreign exchange market to prevent the euro from rising too much.

The fact that the ACC manages to maintain itself "is rather positive in a heavy global situation," said Mr. Tuéni.

US technology stocks are struggling to stabilize.

Thursday, after a higher opening, they fell again sharply, even if they resumed Friday closing in Europe.

The waiting phase is reinforced by concerns about "Brexit and negotiations in the US Congress about a stimulus plan", which push investors to limit their risk-taking, points out Mr. Tuéni.

Fears about the health situation could also resurface in the face of the increase in Covid-19 contaminations in Europe and France.

For now, the markets have shown "some resilience to bad news on the Covid-19 front: rising cases, additional restrictions in several countries, stopping AstraZeneca vaccine testing" have occurred in recent days " without catastrophe "on the course, notes Jean-Christophe Machado, strategist at Natixis.

-Luxury carries the CAC-

LUXURY CLIMBING

Luxury stocks, which have a heavy weight in the CAC 40 index, rose sharply on Friday.

LVMH, after a busy week with the break with Tiffany, jumped 3.03% to 416.60 euros, Kering 2% to 570.60 euros.

Hermès gained 1.36% to 743.20 euros.

NEGOTIATIONS FOR THE MILAN STOCK EXCHANGE

The pan-European stock exchange operator Euronext (+ 1.70% to 101.70 euros), which notably manages the Paris market, on Friday formalized negotiations to buy the Milan Stock Exchange from London Stock Exchange Group (+ 1.96% to 9,064 pence), in association with the Italian Caisse des Dépôts.

ACCOR OUT, ALSTOM IN

The railway manufacturer Alstom (+ 1.58% to 46.26 euros) will enter the flagship index of the Paris Stock Exchange, the CAC 40, instead of the hotel group Accor (-4.27% to 24.89 euros), put in difficulty by the consequences of the Covid-19 crisis.

© 2020 AFP