The flagship CAC 40 index gained 45.07 points to 7,491.96 points, its highest closing level since April 25. Over the week, it takes 1.04%, an advance made in the last two sessions.

On Friday, the Parisian rating opened higher and rose steadily throughout this day when many financial products have matured, likely to cause significant movements, recalls Thierry Claudé, manager of Kiplink Finance.

This session, called "the three witches", often brings more volatility. The rise of the CAC was also sharply reduced at the end of the session, the index being above 7,520 points half an hour before the close.

The trend is the same in other European markets and Frankfurt even broke its all-time record, which dated back to November 2021. The European Eurostoxx 600 index has reached its highest level in fifteen months.

That of the CAC 40, at 7,581.26 points in session, also seems accessible.

Investors welcome "the good news on the negotiations on the postponement of the US debt ceiling," says Mr. Claudé, with positive statements on both the Democratic and Republican sides.

Without an agreement, the world's largest economy could find itself in default as early as early June.

The Paris market is "very resilient" for Mr. Claudé. "All attempts to lower it in recent days have failed" while "the slightest positive trigger makes it rise".

Even the "sword of Damocles" that is the risk of a further increase in the key rates of the US central bank does not affect their morale, says the manager.

On the other hand, the speeches of central bankers in this direction have pushed up rates on European government bonds all week. The French 10-year yield reached 3.00%, compared to 2.85% at the end of last week.

Semiconductors have juice

The semiconductor sector was buoyed by several news, from Micron's announcement of major investments in Japan on Thursday and the special plan unveiled by the British government on Friday.

STMicroelectronics took 0.94% to 41.54 euros on Friday and signed the second best weekly performance of the CAC 40 (+6.57%).

Among the other companies driving the index, we find many of the sector related to the economic situation, such as transport with Alstom, (+11.65% over the week to 27.32 euros), Stellantis (+3.25% to 15.43 euros), banking with Société Générale (+5.10% to 23.19 euros), or equipment such as Schneider Electric (+4.07% to 164.60 euros).

© 2023 AFP