After opening lower, the CAC 40 index ended up sharply (+0.94%) at 7,233.94 points and posted its fifth week in the green since the start of the year.
The session was driven by the job market in the United States, which defied forecasts in January, posting iron health despite fears of a slowdown and announcements of layoffs.
As for the unemployment rate, which had already returned for several months to its pre-pandemic level, the lowest in 50 years, it fell a little further, to 3.4% (-0.1 point).
“Despite the rise in rates, the firmness of the job market makes many say that a possible recession could be ruled out, this is the ideal scenario because it would suggest a soft landing for the economy”, it that is to say a drop in inflation without a recession, Franklin Pichard, director of Kiplink Finance, told AFP.
Investors, who had been reassured the day before by the speeches of central bankers deemed more accommodating than the previous times, "do not want to place themselves in a profit-taking scenario and continue to overcome obstacles when there are any", adds the expert.
As for values, LVMH gained 2.51% to 829.40 euros, a new all-time high, like Hermès (+2.15 to 1,778 euros).
Kering, which announced the creation of a “Beauty” division to develop cosmetics and perfumes, a sector now “strategic” for the French group, took 1.06% to 598.60 euros.
The action of the French laboratory Sanofi dropped 1.88% to 85.14 euros, after the publication of a turnover below analysts' expectations.
The French energy giant TotalEnergies (+ 2.12% to 56.35 euros) on Friday deemed "limited" its "exposure" linked to its participation in several joint ventures with the Indian group Adani, which lost more than 100 billion dollars in cumulative market capitalization since accusations of accounting fraud.
© 2023 AFP