Paris (AFP)

The Paris Bourse remained slightly in the green, 0.11%, at the end of a morning without relief Wednesday, supported by the values ​​of luxury.

The CAC 40 index climbed 5.95 points to 5,617.76 points around 12:30.

The day before, it had progressed by 0.42%, going back above 5,600 points after having stumbled on this threshold several times.

The other European markets evolved in the same dynamic, London gaining 0.23% and Frankfurt, for its last session of the year, 0.13%.

The US markets were moving towards a more frank opening in the green: the three main indices Dow Jones, S & P500 and Nasdaq appreciated around 0.40% in the futures contracts.

The luxury sector, heavyweight of the Parisian coast, is "carried by the trade agreement which should be signed soon" between the European Union and China, one of their main markets, notes Franklin Pichard, Managing Director by Kiplink Finance.

Firmly at the top of the rating, Kering thus rose 1.39% to 585.50 euros.

The Parisian market is however numbed by the holidays, while its year ends Thursday at 2:00 p.m.

The flagship CAC 40 index should end 2020 down around 6%.

As a result of this context, "many" market "players are absent. Suddenly, fears of irrational movements during the holiday season are dissipating and risky assets are appreciating", continues Mr. Pichard.

In the morning, investors wavered between Wall Street's slightly bearish trend on Tuesday and news around vaccination.

A Chinese laboratory, Sinopharm, has for the first time announced an efficacy for one of its vaccines, of 79%.

China currently has five vaccine candidates in the final phase of human trials, more than any other country.

Then the UK became the first country to give the AstraZeneca vaccine the green light on Wednesday.

This vaccine was expected for practical reasons: much cheaper than the one already distributed, it can be stored at refrigerator temperature, which facilitates large-scale vaccination.

It allows us to look beyond the short term on the health situation, with an increase in contamination in certain regions of Europe.

Luxury always shining

Luxury stocks carried the Paris index on Wednesday, as since the start of the week.

Besides Kering, LVMH rose 0.55% to 515.60 euros and Hermès 0.52% to 887.20 euros.

Over the week, these companies represented three of the four best increases, thanks to their links with the Chinese market.

Astrazeneca benefits from its first authorization

The British laboratory Astrazeneca took advantage of the authorization on British soil of its vaccine produced in collaboration with the University of Oxford.

It rose 0.78% to 7,520 pence and rival GSK 0.86% to 1,378.00 pence.

In France, Sanofi fell 0.24% to 79.03 euros.

© 2020 AFP