The flagship CAC 40 index recovered 87.74 points to 7,013.14 points. It had its worst weekly performance in six months last week, with losses of more than 4%.

In sharp decline in the first exchanges, the Parisian rating turned around, like the banks which finished up for Crédit Agricole (+0.66% to 10.06 euros) and BNP Paribas (+1.70% to 52.56 euros), and slightly down for Société Générale (-0.83% to 21.03 euros).

Investors were initially nervous about the terms of Sunday's purchase of Credit Suisse by its former rival UBS, for just over three billion euros and huge guarantees granted by the government and the Swiss central bank.

"We are in a situation of crisis of confidence. This is where a central bank plays a major role" to ensure the stability of the banking system, particularly via "liquidity injections", explains Catherine Hugel, manager at Hugau Gestion.

The supra-national European authorities and of each country reiterated on Monday confident messages about the soundness of the banking system.

Banks in the euro zone have "very limited" exposure to Credit Suisse, especially when it comes to the billions in bonds evaporated after the takeover by UBS, said Monday the president of the European Central Bank (ECB), Christine Lagarde.

French Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire hailed a "good deal", saying the government was remaining attentive to its consequences on the markets.

The takeover of Credit Suisse could "have legal consequences, as bondholders have been treated worse than shareholders. This situation caused a kind of panic on the European stock markets in the morning," said Konstantin Oldenburger, analyst at CMC Market.

"However, the European Central Bank was able to reassure investors a little by saying that it would never happen this way in the euro area," he said.

On the debt market, the yield on the French 10-year bond, which is the benchmark, ended stable around 2.65% after falling sharply at the beginning of the session.

Tuesday begins the meeting of the monetary policy committee of the US Federal Reserve. Investors are wondering how the institution will strike a balance between addressing persistent inflationary pressures and maintaining stability in the banking system and markets.

Luxury and defensive support the rating

Defensive stocks, whose activity is not very sensitive to economic activity and which are sought after by investors in times of uncertainty, rose sharply, such as Air Liquide (+2.21% to 150.48 euros) and Remy Cointreau (+2.00% to 168.40 euros).

The flagship stocks of the Paris Stock Exchange, in the luxury sector, ended clearly in the green like Hermès (+1.73% to 1,760.00 euros), LVMH (+2.18% to 804.50 euros) and Kering (+1.63% to 556.00 euros). In cosmetics, L'Oréal took 1.76% to 386.95 euros.

© 2023 AFP