Paris (AFP)

The Paris Stock Exchange advanced 0.23% on Tuesday shortly after the opening, recovering with difficulty from a plunge the day before against the backdrop of movement restriction measures across Europe, in the midst of the resurgence of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Around 9:15 am, the CAC 40 index took 11.04 points to 4,803.08 points.

It had experienced its worst session in more than three months on Monday, falling 3.74%.

"We continue to believe that politicians will avoid at all costs a new confinement at the national level," say analysts at Saxo Bank.

"But, at the same time, we are hearing more and more from large companies preparing for the worst and going 100% telework in the event that the combination of Covid and seasonal flu puts dangerously under pressure on the health system in some countries. "

The first political decisions in this direction seem to be emerging at the European level.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson should, in a speech Tuesday evening, encourage his citizens to resume telework if they have the agreement of their employer, according to the Daily Telegraph.

It should also declare the closure of pubs, bars and restaurants at 10 p.m. from Thursday.

Like the partial lockdown imposed on Madrid on Monday, these measures are reminiscent of decisions taken across the world in the spring, which led to a sudden stop in consumption and double-digit recessions from which the world is just slowly starting to recover.

Europe is not the only one to see the lights turn red: Argentina on Monday recorded a daily death record with 429 dead, and the United States will exceed the threshold of 200,000 deaths.

"Politicians are going to have to decide at some point what is more important: new general lockdown or increased restrictions, with thousands of job cuts and business closures, or a solution for live with the virus that is expected to evolve among us for a while yet, ”commented Michael Hewson, chief market analyst for CMC Markets UK.

AMONG THE VALUES ON TUESDAY

Suez lost 0.24% to 14.80 euros.

The environmental services group announced on Tuesday that it was ahead of the objectives of its refocusing strategy by 2030 and that it was going to follow a path allowing "doubling the value" for its shareholders from 2022.

Societe Generale (-0.81% to 11.57 euros), Crédit Agricole (+ 0.10% to 7.67 euros) and BNP Paribas (-0.59% to 32.20 euros) were trying to recover, with difficulty , a dive the day before following revelations by a consortium of journalists who accuse many global banking institutions of allowing large-scale dirty money laundering.

© 2020 AFP