The CAC 40 index advanced 54.48 points to 7,106.15 points, the day after an increase of 1.24%.

From its lowest point hit Monday morning, it has recovered nearly 5.3%.

The volume of trade was further reduced to 2.6 billion euros.

Like Wednesday, it opened slightly higher before accelerating at the beginning of the afternoon, to the point of finding itself a stone's throw from the absolute record of the index during the session (7,183 points), reached in November. .

This "end of year rally", which designates a series of increases for the indices, is first carried by the appeasement of health fears.

"The latest study showing lower risk of hospitalization for the Omicron variant has been the catalyst for the markets for 48 hours," said AFP Chaguir Mandjee, portfolio manager at Tailor AM.

However, the acceleration in the number of contaminations, and possible restrictive measures by governments remain disruptive factors, and could in particular influence the results of companies in the first quarter of 2022, nuance Mr. Mandjee.

China imposed strict containment on Thursday on the 13 million inhabitants of the city of Xi'an, due to a rebound in the Covid-19 epidemic, posing the risk of further disruption in the global production chain .

The markets preferred to retain Thursday "the fourth quarter well oriented in the United States", with durable goods orders which rose 2.5% in November, better than the 1.8% expected, while spending by households grew 0.6%, as expected.

In addition, US consumer confidence rebounded in December, driven by the rise in income recorded in particular by the less wealthy households.

During the holiday season, in the absence of a large number of asset managers, liquidity decreases, which can exacerbate any movements in the equity market.

On Friday, it will only be open until early afternoon.

Carmat is relaunching

Carmat (+ 2.24% to 20.50 euros), manufacturer of artificial hearts, has announced the end of its investigations into the quality problems concerning certain prostheses, which have been identified and will be remedied.

The action had taken nearly 8% in early trading.

Banks at the top of the index

Sign of a certain relaxation of investors, bonds, a safe haven in times of turbulence, were shunned, in favor of equities.

The benchmark rate for 10-year French government bonds rose to 0.12% against 0.08% at the close the day before.

Bond prices and their rates move in opposite directions.

Banks followed this rise in rates: Crédit Agricole gained 1.53% to 12.44 euros, Société Générale 1.32% to 29.83 euros and BNP Paribas 1.10% to 60.00 euros.

The automobile on the rise

The trend towards riskier assets has benefited auto-related stocks, which are sensitive to changes in economic activity.

Renault advanced 2.13% to 29.80 euros and Stellantis 0.71% to 16.56 euros.

Among the values ​​of the broader SBF 120 index, Plastic Omnium gained 4.11% to 22.82 euros, Valeo 3.38% to 26.60 euros, Faurecia 3.47% to 41.20 euros.

© 2021 AFP