The CAC 40 index lost 78.44 points during the session to 6,926.63 points, pulled down by the values ​​of luxury and technology.

Over the week, it ended down 0.93%.

"Investors are becoming aware of the US Federal Reserve's decision taken Wednesday evening" to tighten its monetary policy more quickly and harder, Lionel Melka, head of the management team at Homa Capital, told AFP.

The news had already pushed Wall Street back the day before but the European market had not yet digested it.

"The market is a bit hectic, a bit nervous as the end of the year holidays approach," observes Mr. Melka.

During this last session before the Christmas holidays, investors also learned that the German institute Ifo lowered its growth forecast for the largest European economy in 2022 by 1.4 points on Tuesday, to 3.7%, in due to the shortages and the virulent wave of Covid-19.

Germany, already affected by a significant rebound in coronavirus contaminations, must prepare for a new "massive wave" linked to the meteoric spread of the Omicron variant, Health Minister Karl Lauterbach said on Friday.

In addition, this Friday corresponds to a session called the "four witches" which marks the expiration of options and futures on indices and stocks by causing volatility.

Luxury and tech tarnish the rating

Heavyweight on the Parisian coast, the luxury sector has seen red: Hermès has fallen by 6.01% and LVMH by 2%.

The stocks most linked to technology on the Paris Stock Exchange have spread the word like STMicroelectronics (-1.26% to 41.37 euros), Dassault Systèmes (-1.13% to 51.73 euros), or Capgemini (-1.40% to 204.80 euros).

Tech stocks have the most to fear from rising key rates and less liquidity in the markets.

The CAC 40 is however significantly less exposed to technology stocks than Wall Street due to the low weight of the sector in the Paris index.

Second contract in a row for Airbus

The aircraft manufacturer Airbus gained 1.70% to 104.14 euros, after winning a new contract for 100 A320neo family aircraft from Air France-KLM (+ 1.76% to 3.81 euros).

In addition, Aéroports de Paris rose 2.19% to 107.35 euros the day after the announcement of the continued rebound in air traffic in November.

The car in trouble

Renault dropped 1.30% to 29.12 euros and Stellantis 2.15% to 16.47 euros, while the European car market experienced a fifth month of decline in November.

Equipment manufacturers like Plastic Omnium (-1.16% to 22.22 euros) and Faurecia (-0.63% to 39.15 euros) also suffered.

© 2021 AFP