After opening lower, the flagship CAC 40 index ended close to balance (+0.11%) at 7,139.25 points, thus signing four sessions in the green since the beginning of the week and bringing its weekly performance to more than 3%.
The US Federal Reserve (Fed) raised its key interest rate by only a quarter of a percentage point on Wednesday in a context undermined by the banking crisis.
And for the future, the majority of the 18 Fed officials anticipate an additional rate hike of a quarter of a point.
However, many market participants argue that the disruptions to the banking sector will de facto tighten financial conditions, which should reduce the need for central banks to go further in raising rates to combat inflation.
"The projections of Fed members on the level of rates have not moved upwards since the last projections in December," said Alexandre Baradez, analyst at IG France, which gives, according to him, "an indication that the Fed will not go much higher" in its monetary tightening (rate increase) underway.
"Because of banking stress, central banks will be much less forced to go further on rates," he added, referring to comments made by the Fed chairman echoing those of the president of the European Central Bank (ECB), according to which the current tensions could mechanically accentuate the increase in the cost of credit.
On the value side, Sanofi shares climbed 5.48% to 95.84 euros, finishing at the top of the CAC 40.
The pharmaceutical giant announced this week several news that could further expand the market for Dupixent, its lead drug, including favorable results against a common lung disease.
Teleperformance shares slipped 2.59% to 214.80 euros.
The French call center giant announced Wednesday that it would return to moderating offensive content on the internet. The decision to stop this activity came in November, after a scandal triggered by a survey of journalists among its employees in Colombia, "traumatized" by watching many harrowing videos.
© 2023 AFP