The flagship Parisian index, the CAC 40, gained 17.18 points to 7,483.84 points. The day before, it had fallen by 0.86%, falling below the 7,500 point mark for the first time since mid-April.

"Despite a deluge of good corporate results, European markets struggled to recover from the previous day's losses," said Michael Hewson, analyst at CMC Markets.

The Parisian market welcomed this Thursday the publications of many companies, including Pernod Ricard, TotalEnergies, Sanofi, Schneider Electric and Air Liquide.

On the macroeconomic front, investors' attention turned to the release of U.S. GDP for the first quarter. Economic growth was significantly lower than expected in the United States over this period, at 1.1% year-on-year compared to 2.6% in the fourth quarter of 2022.

But the publication also highlighted the resilience of consumption and higher-than-expected inflation, while, at the same time, new weekly jobless claims were lower than economists' projections.

"The market was expecting an economic slowdown in the United States, which has now become more tangible, but we are still not in negative. This brings up to date the idea that the Fed (the US central bank) will slowly reach its plateau", that is to say that the institution will maintain a high key rate for some time, before reaching a possible peak in its monetary tightening policy, explained Alexandre Drabowicz, analyst at Indosuez.

Banks reassure

On the banking side, the results are "very good and reassuring", said Alexandre Drabowicz.

At the close, BNP Paribas gained 1.96% to 58.74 euros, Crédit Agricole 1.26% to 11.06 euros, Société Générale 1.13% to 21.96 euros. The insurer Axa also saw its share price increase, with +0.63% to 29.46 euros.

Among the values of the day

TotalEnergies: Despite falling gas and oil prices in early 2023, the French energy giant announced Thursday a net profit up 12% in the first quarter, to $ 5.6 billion, as well as the sale of its Canadian assets in the oil sands. The group's stock lost 2.62% to 56.87%.

Schneider Electric: French electrical equipment has raised its full-year profit and profitability targets for 2023, buoyed by record revenue and backlog in the first quarter, as supply difficulties ease. At the top of the CAC 40 at the close, its share price increased by 3.90%, to 157.84 euros.

© 2023 AFP