Paris (AFP)

The Paris Bourse remained well oriented (+ 0.27%) Friday at midday pending the US employment figures, which could however revive inflation fears if they were to exceed expectations.

Around 12:32 (10:32 GMT), the CAC 40 index took 17.32 points to 6,374.41 points, after rising at the start of the session to 6,390.04 points, a new high since November 8, 2000. The day before , it took 0.28% to reach a new high at the close since November 7, 2000.

"The markets are in the expectation", awaiting "with interest the publication of the report on the American employment for the month of April", summarizes Franklin Pichard, the general manager of Kiplink Finance.

"One million new positions should have been reached in April thanks to federal support measures, the acceleration of the vaccination program and the lifting of certain health restrictions," he said.

Investors "hope that this publication will confirm the acceleration of the global economic recovery and the prospect of monetary tightening. They finally seem to be getting used to this idea, only on condition that monetary tightening is very gradual, like the Fed keeps repeating it, ”he adds.

As for indicators, industrial production in France rebounded by 0.8% over one month in March, driven in particular by the extractive industries and the food industry, and by 2.5% in Germany.

France's trade deficit widened during the first quarter to reach 15.4 billion euros, due in particular to energy imports, the cost of which rose with the rise in oil prices.

Europcar takes off

The car rental company jumped 11.32% to 0.35 euros.

While it continued to be severely affected by the travel paralysis caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, with a 36% decline in its turnover and a net loss of 76.7 million euros in the first quarter over year, however, the group expects sales growth this year.

Crédit Agricole does not fully convince

Agricultural credit yielded 1.13% to 12.94 euros, tail of the CAC 40. The banking group has yet almost doubled its net profit in the first quarter of 2021, compared to a year ago, to 1.75 billion euros, thanks to "very sustained" activity in all businesses.

Publicis sued

Publicis for its part fell 0.50% to 55.84 euros.

The US state of Massachusetts on Thursday attacked the company Publicis Health, owned by the French advertising giant, which it accuses of having contributed to the opioid crisis by helping the Purdue laboratory to urge doctors to prescribe its anti-drug. OxyContin pain.

Casino in trouble

The group fell 3.16% to 28.21 euros, weighed down by less good sales than the previous year (-6.4%) for its stores, and even in 2019 (-1%) in France, during the first quarter of 2021.

Klépierre suffers

The group, owner of dozens of shopping centers in France and Europe, lost 0.54% to 22.11 euros.

He continued to experience the effects of health restrictions in the first trimester but remains confident for the future.

© 2021 AFP