Around 11:05, the flagship CAC 40 index gained 0.31% to 7,047.44 points the day after a rebound of more than 2%. The Parisian rating, however, was heading for a weekly loss of more than 3%.

After many fears about the banking system, "the week should end on a positive note, with widespread increases in risk assets, following the management of problems in the United States by local authorities and the timely intervention of the Swiss central bank," said Pierre Veyret, analyst at ActivTrades.

Eleven major U.S. banks pledged Thursday to rescue First Republic, the 14th largest bank in the United States by the size of its assets, easing market fears of a new bank failure after those of Silicon Valley Ban (SVB), Signature Bank and Silvergate last week.

Credit Suisse received support from the Swiss central bank to strengthen its liquidity by borrowing up to CHF 50 billion (EUR 50.7 billion) in the short term.

"Investors also took note of the latest speech by ECB President Christine Lagarde, who yesterday announced a 50 basis point rate hike, while reiterating that European banks remain resilient and that monetary tightening will not pose a threat to the euro area economy as a whole (...)", adds Mr. Veyret.

The collapse of several U.S. regional banks last week followed by setbacks at Credit Suisse this week have generated great concern and revived the nightmare of the 2008 global financial crisis, as investors feared repercussions for the entire banking system.

Banks in support

Societe Generale shares gained 2.47% to 21.76 euros, benefiting from a recommendation increase by HSBC to "buy" against "hold", according to the financial information agency Bloomberg. BNP Paribas was up 0.78% to 53.12 euros, Axa 0.67% to 27.03 euros and Credit Agricole 0.14% to 10.24 euros.

Sanofi lowers the price of its insulin in the United States

The pharmaceutical giant (+0.50% to 90.68 euros) will reduce the list price of its insulin Lantus by 78% in the United States from January 2024, as part of a series of measures to reduce the price of diabetes drugs.

© 2023 AFP