Paris (AFP)

The Paris Bourse ended sharply down 0.79% on Friday, in a volatile session where concerns about inflation and consumption in the United States weighed on investors.

The flagship CAC 40 index lost 52.40 points to 6,570.19 points.

Over the week, it gave up 1.40%, but has kept a gain of 18.35% since January 1.

After an opening up sharply, the Parisian odds again stumbled on 6,700 points, "an important technical threshold", commented Edouard de Kerhor, manager at Milleis bank.

The so-called "four witches" session, marked by the combined expiration of futures contracts and call options on stock market indices and on individual stocks, was as usual particularly volatile.

"We can see some tensions in the markets. Of course, there is still an American spending plan," under discussion in Congress, "and considerable resources", in particular from central banks, but "the market is aware that the high levels of valuation , are only justified if the growth prospects are high, ”explains Kerhor.

However, the signs of weakening of the economy are multiplying all over the world, from China to the United States.

On Friday, US consumer confidence for September came out slightly lower than economists' forecasts, still at a low level.

Consumption is the most important engine of growth in the United States.

In addition, inflation continues to be monitored: that in the euro zone was 3% over one year in August, Eurostat said on Friday, confirming its preliminary publication.

Monetary institutions assure for the moment that this high level is transitory.

Investors are awaiting "a timetable and a clear outlook" from central banks, starting with the US Federal Reserve, whose monetary meeting is scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday.

It could announce the date and the extent of the reduction of its support to the markets via asset buybacks, which have contributed to the rebound in prices for a year and a half.

Luxury regains a little prestige

Luxury stocks have picked up some colors after a bad week, due to fears about consumption and regulation in China: Kering gained 2.36% to 637.20 euros (-8.50% over the week), Hermès 1.39% to 1,277.50 euros (-1.88%), and LVMH 0.48% to 631 euros (-5.26%).

BNP Paribas Fortis sells 2% of the capital of Euronext

Euronext shares fell 1.99% to 103.20 euros while BNP Paribas Fortis announced that it had sold 2% of the stock operator's capital for an amount of around 220 million euros.

Breathing for TotalEnergies

Like oil prices, slightly down on Friday but rising sharply over the week, the oil giant TotalEnergies ended down 0.85% to 38.39 euros, but had the best performance of the CAC 40 index for the whole week (+ 4.80%).

© 2021 AFP