Paris (AFP)

The Paris Bourse recovered moderately after the opening (+ 0.21%) before the announcements of the American central bank while the pandemic is still far from being controlled.

At 9:29 am (08:29 GMT), the Paris index advanced 11.81 points to 5,535.33 points after having rebounded 0.93% the day before.

No change in monetary course is expected after the Fed meeting which ends on Wednesday with a press release issued at 7:00 p.m. GMT, before President Jerome Powell's usual press conference.

He is expected to comment on the consequences on the economy of the deployment of vaccines and the concerns related to the English variant of Covid-19.

"The latest vaccine developments are bad enough for the Fed to keep its accommodative policy," notes Ipek Ozkardeskaya, analyst at Swissquote Bank.

Concerns about the production and distribution capacities of vaccines combined with the spread of coronavirus variants across the globe are complicating the management of the pandemic.

"The market becomes more hesitant and a little nervousness sets in," observes Sebastian Paris Horvitz, strategist at LBPAM.

"It is difficult to find catalysts to further fuel the optimism already registered in stock market indices, especially in the United States," he adds.

The results of companies which surge this week "could be the catalysts necessary to push indices which are certainly resilient but without strong convictions", writes on this subject Christopher Dembik, head of economic research at Saxo Bank.

Investors have already been able to rejoice in solid publications such as those from LVMH in Paris and Microsoft in the United States.

Three US tech giants beloved by investors - Facebook, Tesla and Apple - will in turn publish their results after the US close.

LVMH reassures, Kering benefits

LVMH rose 1.91% to 517.60 euros after limiting the decline in sales and profitability last year thanks to a "strong" recovery in Asia and a jump in online shopping.

In its wake, Kering took 1.70% to 555 euros.

The real estate companies are darkening

Highly sought after, the URW share (+ 8.27% to 65 euros) took the lead of the CAC 40, that of Klepierre soared 10.21% to 19.53 euros and Icade rose 3.39% to 60, 95 euros.

Consolation prize for Sanofi

Sanofi, which announced to bottle the anti-Covid 19 vaccine from its competitors Pfizer and BioNTech and to package more than 100 million doses this year for the European Union, advanced 0.76% to 81.68 euros.

EDF penalized by Hinkley Point

EDF fell 1.53% to 10.59 euros after announcing that its huge construction site for two EPR reactors at Hinkley Point C in England was further behind schedule and additional costs.

© 2021 AFP