Paris (AFP)

Despite a small fright after the publication of disappointing employment figures in the United States, the Paris Bourse ended up (+ 0.45%) on Friday, optimism and the prospect of continued monetary policies accommodating prevailing.

The CAC 40 index rose 28.42 points to finish at 6,385.51 points, a new closing high since November 7, 2000. Thursday, it had gleaned 0.28%.

Over the week the index gained 1.85% and since January 1, it has increased by 15.03%.

In the United States, the Department of Labor announced that the US economy had created 266,000 jobs in April, far less than the million expected by analysts.

The unemployment rate rose to 6.1%, against 6% in March, while analysts saw it fall to 5.8%.

Another bad news is that the data for March has been revised downwards.

Neil Wilson, an analyst at Markets.com, advises against "relying" too much on this figure, "the US economy is, by most measures, booming."

But this indicator also calmed fears of an overheating economy and a surge in inflation, "this will only encourage the Fed to remain more flexible for longer" and thus to continue its monetary policy. accommodating.

Industrial production in France rebounded 0.8% over one month in March, driven in particular by the mining and food industries.

Regarding vaccinations, President Emmanuel Macron called on "the Anglo-Saxons" to stop "blocking" the exports of vaccines and the ingredients needed to produce them.

In addition, the scientific committee overseeing the anti-Covid vaccination campaign in the United Kingdom recommended limiting the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine to people over 40 years of age when possible, after the reporting of 242 cases of blood clots , including 49 deaths.

While the World Health Organization on Friday gave its emergency approval for the Chinese anti-Covid vaccine Sinopharm, manufactured in Beijing.

Europcar takes off

The car rental company Europcar jumped 14.04% to 0.36 euros, at the top of the CAC 40. Due to the restrictions linked to the pandemic, the group experienced a 36% decline in its turnover and a net loss of 76.7 million euros in the first quarter, but still expects sales growth this year.

Crédit Agricole does not fully convince

Crédit Agricole sold 1.67% to 12.87 euros.

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.

Publicis fell 0.50% to 55.84 euros.

The Casino group fell 2.64% to 28.36 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.

© 2021 AFP