Paris (AFP)

The Paris Bourse remained upset Wednesday at mid-session (-0.66%), investors having to deal with uncertainties around the US presidential election and the economic and health situation.

At 1.30 p.m. (11.50 a.m. GMT), the CAC 40 index fell by 31.8 points to 4,800.19 points.

On Tuesday, it finished down 0.23%.

“For now, investors are busy with the [American] election and the pandemic” of Covid-19, analysis Milan Cutkovic of Axi.

Like the Parisian coast, the other European places were evolving in the red.

US markets also remained cautious before the open, with the Dow Jones and Nasdaq both falling 0.67% in futures.

The first televised duel between Donald Trump and his Democratic opponent in the presidential election Joe Biden set the trend on Tuesday.

It was stormy, the adversaries engaged in battle with invective without really getting to the bottom of their electoral program.

Most investors now expect "a tougher battle between the two candidates and a hotly contested vote in November," said Pierre Veyret, analyst at ActivTrades.

"In this electrical context, the markets even forget the good figures from China," notes Franklin Pichard, director of Kiplink Finance, for whom "the fairness of the election and the way it will unfold are the two points of most concern ".

Donald Trump reiterated that postal voting, which promises to be important due to Covid-19, would encourage "fraud".

In addition to the nervousness linked to the proximity of the US presidential election, the new cases of Covid-19 continue to increase and worry the markets because they run the risk of a slowdown in the economic recovery.

Also, Democrats and Republicans in Congress have so far been unable to agree on launching a new tranche of support for the US economy.

Automotive values ​​struggling

In the euro zone, the President of the European Central Bank (ECB) Christine Lagarde said Wednesday that the institution would seek to define a new inflation target easy to understand and based on a measure better reflecting people's daily lives.

In Frankfurt, Volkswagen (-0.33% to 149.90 euros) today holds its shareholders' meeting in virtual mode.

BMW lost 0.73% to 61.55 euros and Daimler 0.16% to 45.61 euros.

In Paris, Renault dropped 2.61% to 21.67 euros while PSA crumbled 0.26% to 15.31 euros.

In London, Royal Dutch Shell was down 0.26% to 981.20 pence after announcing that it planned to cut 7,000 to 9,000 jobs as part of a major restructuring to cut costs in the face of falling demand and oil prices.

Rival BP also yielded 0.52% to 228.10 pence.

Conversely, in Paris, the oil giant Total advanced 1.13% to 28.65 euros.

Suez (+ 4.93% to 15.66 euros) once again rejected Wednesday the "vague" proposals of its competitor Veolia, which had unveiled a little earlier an improved offer and concessions to buy back the 29.9% of the group owned by Engie.

Engie, which meets in the afternoon its board of directors to study this improved offer, rose 0.53% to 11.34 euros while Veolia took 1.42% to 18.58 euros.

© 2020 AFP