The CAC 40 index rose 23.44 points to 6,682.85 points at 9:50 a.m.

The day before, it had finished up 1.17%.

Wall Street also posted strong gains on Tuesday, with analysts believing the market may have bottomed earlier, which would explain the rise despite the lack of any real good news.

The Tokyo Stock Exchange even closed on Wednesday with a jump of 3% and experienced its seventh consecutive session in the green.

In the bond market, US borrowing rates have been climbing since the beginning of the week, after a speech by Federal Reserve (Fed) predictor Jerome Powell, who showed determination to fight inflation .

According to John Plassard, investment specialist at Mirabaud, investors have become aware that "that the American monetary institution is taking + head on + the problem of galloping inflation in the United States".

And for the markets this seems to be good news, inflation being at its highest for 40 years in the United States and at a peak for 30 years in the United Kingdom, this threatens both the purchasing power of households, corporate profits and therefore the overall health of the global economy.

Especially since the soaring prices of raw materials, a consequence of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, could worsen the situation.

Investors will take notice on Wednesday of various production indices in Europe and the United States.

They will also monitor the speeches of Jerome Powell and another member of the American central bank.

Regarding the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, Westerners will meet in Brussels on Thursday for NATO, G7 and European Union summits and are expected to announce "new sanctions against Russia", according to Jake Sullivan, national security adviser to Joe Biden.

They could also strengthen those that already exist.

Christopher Dembik, director of macroeconomic research at Saxo Bank, assures that "the Europeans are seeking to sanction Russian oil", advancing several possible options including a sharp increase in taxes on Russian oil imports.

TotalEnergies shuts down Russian oil

The French group TotalEnergies has announced its decision to stop all purchases of Russian oil or petroleum products, "at the latest by the end of 2022".

Its CEO Patrick Pouyanné assured Wednesday that he could not do without Russian gas without which part of European economic activity "would stop".

The action rose 0.32% to 46.13 euros.

© 2022 AFP