After an early session around the balance, the CAC 40 index gained 29.08 points to 6,557.40 points.

The day after a session that had erased the small gains accumulated since the start of the week, the weekly balance sheet of the index went back into the green by a short head (+0.05%).

The minutes of the discussions of the last meeting of the Fed, the minutes, published Wednesday after the Paris close, were "unclear concerning the intentions of the American central bank" (Fed), according to John Plassard, specialist in the investment at Mirabaud.

A few indicators were published during the session without any coming to give a strong signal to the markets "half fig half grape" and "still focused on inflation and the Fed", adds Denis Ducatel, investment expert finance at Milleis Banque.

In this context, news, even good for the economy such as the increase in manufacturing activity in Philadelphia in the United States or the weekly drop in American unemployment benefit claims, can be perceived by the markets as encouraging elements central banks to continue raising their key rates.

Investors thus evolved Thursday "without catalyst" to show them a clear direction, observes Mr. Ducatel.

In Europe, Germany, which is facing a drop in Russian gas supplies, has announced that it may not be able to meet its target, set by the government of Olaf Scholz, of filling its gas tanks. at 85% of their capacity on October 1.

Household energy bills are set to soar this winter and shortages will put whole swathes of German industry in difficulty.

On the French side, the gas storages were 80% full at the beginning of the month and the government had assured that they will be full on November 1.

In a degraded macroeconomic context where the markets experienced a slight upward trend "during the summer", "we are reaching resistance", underlines Denis Ducatel.

"At the CAC 40 it seems that the market is struggling to go above the 6,600 point zone," he says.

In question in particular "seasonality" while the month of August is marked "by a lower volume of transactions. When all the investors will return", the evolutions should be clearer, completes Denis Ducatel.

Semiconductor Market Good for STMicroelectronics

Like other American and European titles of semiconductor producers for the digital industry (smartphones and computers in particular) and automotive, STMicroelectronics rose on the stock market on Thursday.

The title took 3.23% to 37.10 euros, leading the CAC 40. The manufacturer Broadcom climbed 3.89% in New York around 6:30 p.m. (4:30 p.m. GMT) and NVIDIA took 2.74%.

The German Infineon gained 3.87% in Frankfurt.

John Plassard, investment specialist at Mirabaud observes that "chip supply shortages are easing".

TotalEnergies follows oil

At the end of a session where oil prices rose, TotalEnergies ended up 2.44%, at 52.80 euros.

© 2022 AFP