The flagship CAC 40 index advanced 42.35 points to 7,442.07 points. Over the first four days of the week, it recovers 0.37%. Due to a public holiday, volumes were a bit lower than usual, with less than €2.5 billion traded.

The Parisian rating even reached 7,480 points at the beginning of the session, its highest level since May 2, before falling in the afternoon with a mixed Wall Street opening.

The leader of the Republicans in the House of Representatives Kevin McCarthy again had statements Thursday suggesting that negotiations on raising the debt ceiling, crucial to avoid a default of the world's largest economy, conclude positively.

Initial statements to this effect on Wednesday had pushed Wall Street forward, a movement that then arrived in Europe.

"There is a growing belief that the melodrama playing out in Washington is just a political play and that a deal will eventually be reached, as it has done many times in the past," said Michael Hewson of CMC Markets.

Other elements may have played in favor of the Paris Stock Exchange, such as a decline in the euro against the dollar, which supports exporting companies, or the fact that European natural gas fell in session to its lowest level in nearly two years, below 30 euros per megawatt hour. That's barely a tenth of its price at the last peak in August 2022.

At the same time, rates have risen sharply: that for the French 10-year bond has exceeded 3% for the first time since May 2, while it was at 2.91% Wednesday at the close.

Dallas central bank (Fed) chair Lorie Logan said current macroeconomic data does not warrant a pause in the monetary tightening cycle at the Fed's next meeting in mid-June.

While they were almost unanimous in believing that the Fed would not raise its key rates in June at the end of the last meeting in early May, market participants now give a probability of more than a third to a further increase, according to the consensus of CME group.

STMicroelectronics benefits from Micron

STMicroelectronics shares finished at the top of the CAC 40 with a jump of 3.59% to 41.59 euros, boosted by the announcement of the American technology giant Micron of a multi-billion euro investment to produce in Japan new generation electronic chips.

Strong banks

Banking stocks were sought after with renewed appeal for cyclical companies, the most linked to economic activity. Societe Generale gained 2.02% to 22.98 euros, BNP Paribas 1.72% to 59.64 euros and Crédit Agricole 0.99% to 11.81 euros.

Everything is rolling for Trigano

Leisure vehicle maker Trigano reported Wednesday a 7.6% increase in net profit to 121.7 million euros in the first half of its 2022/2023 fiscal year. Its share soared 13.32% to 131 euros.

Other values in the automotive sector were well seen on Thursday, such as Renault (+2.86% to 33.62 euros), Stellantis (+2.06% to 15.14 euros), Michelin (+1.64% to 27.91 euros).

© 2023 AFP