The flagship CAC 40 index lost 33.30 points to 5,883.33 points, the day after a drop of 0.81%.

The Parisian place, however, does a little better than its counterparts in London (-0.97%) and especially Frankfurt (-1.76%).

"After yesterday's falls, European markets already looked vulnerable due to growing concerns about a global slowdown. These fears were heightened after the latest PMI indices," summarizes CMC Markets analyst Michael Hewson.

Growth in activity in the private sector in France markedly stalled in June, falling back to its January pace in the midst of the Omicron wave, according to a provisional index published Thursday by S&P Global.

And in the euro zone, "the slowdown in growth recorded was the most severe since November 2008, i.e. at the height of the global financial crisis", with the exception of those observed during periods of sanitary confinement, underlined Chris Williamson, chief economist for S&P Global, in a statement.

Despite the sharp drop in the CAC 40 since the start of the year (-17.75%), the market "remains quite complacent, even optimistic about the fact that corporate results will hold up while the dynamism of consumers, who has supported the trend since the start of the year, is showing signs of weakness", also supports Raphaël Thuin, of Tikehau Capital.

The fear of a recession was also observed on the bond market, where the interest rate for the French 10-year loan fell by 21 basis points, to 1.96%.

The rate was still over 2.32% on Tuesday.

Luxury as a buoy

This respite in interest rates was able to benefit in particular so-called growth stocks, which need low rates to finance their growth and enhance their long-term profits.

Thus, in luxury, a heavyweight on the Parisian coast, LVMH took 2.59% to 566 euros, Hermès 2.07% to 1,035 euros, Kering 0.43% to 490 euros.

Technology was also displayed in green, such as Dassault Systèmes (+2.50% to 35.11 euros), or Teleperformance (+0.50% to 282.70 euros).

Valneva's vaccine authorized in the EU

The European Medicines Agency (EMA) on Thursday approved the coronavirus vaccine from Franco-Austrian biotech Valneva, which becomes the sixth anti-Covid 19 vaccine recommended for adults in the 27 countries of the European Union.

The action jumped 19.62% to 14.24 euros, continuing the surge of the title this week (+ 79.33%).

However, the action still accumulates a deficit of 41.90% compared to its level at the beginning of the year.

Other health stocks rose, such as Eurofins Scientific (+4.20% to 76.48 euros), while the cases of Covid-19 identified are rising rapidly in France.

BioMerieux took 2.53% to 89.06 euros and Sanofi 0.22% to 95.75 euros.

The banks are disillusioned

Conversely, the sharp drop in interest rates and the risks to economic activity penalized banks, such as Société Générale (-5.51% to 22.30 euros), BNP Paribas (-4.69% to 46.74 euros), and Crédit Agricole (-3.97% to 8.88 euros).

Other so-called cyclical companies because they are linked to economic cycles have fallen back, such as Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield (-4.54% to 50.68 euros), Michelin (-4.43% to 25.81 euros) or even Publicis (-4.13% to 45 euros).

© 2022 AFP