After an opening in net rebound (+1.48%) and having dropped 3.58% the day before, the Parisian rating is more hesitant: the flagship CAC 40 index rose only 0.40% around 10:30.

On the Swiss stock exchange, Credit Suisse shares rose more than 23%, the day after a historic plunge (nearly 25%) whose spark was the refusal of its largest shareholder, the Saudi National Bank, to commit more money to support the Swiss group, which has been struggling for two years.

In an attempt to calm the situation, the Swiss National Bank (SNB) said it was ready to make liquidity available to the Zurich institution "if necessary" and Credit Suisse announced on the night of Wednesday to Thursday that it would borrow in the short term up to 50 billion Swiss francs (50.7 billion euros) from the SNB to strengthen its liquidity.

This painful episode comes after the collapse of several US regional banks last week that had already raised fears about the stability of the global banking system.

These turmoil complicate the decision of the European Central Bank to fight persistent inflation by raising its key rates without further destabilizing financial markets.

Until recently, a 50 basis point hike at Thursday's monetary policy meeting was almost a coincidence, as the ECB itself announced last month. But the scenario of a quarter-point increase is no longer excluded by the markets.

"A rise of only 25 basis points or a status quo is risky. It could confirm to investors a banking risk in Europe and that the bank puts aside its fight against inflation," warns Christian Parisot, economist at broker Aurel BGC.

"Conversely, an increase of 50 basis points can increase the pressure on the valuation of the banking sector," he continued, believing that "there is no ideal answer for the ECB today".

Banks stop the bleeding

After a fall of more than 10% on Wednesday, financial stocks recovered some colors pending the decision of the ECB, rebounding by 1.33% for BNP Paribas, 0.90% for Credit Agricole and 0.51% for Société Générale.

TotalEnergies sells 1,600 service stations in Europe

TotalEnergies (+0.53% 53.55 euros) announced Thursday to sell nearly 1,600 service stations in Germany and the Netherlands to the Canadian food and fuel distribution group Couche-Tard, to better prepare for the end of sales of thermal vehicles in Europe in 2035.

© 2023 AFP