Europe in the green, optimism on the impact of Omicron – archyde

PARIS (Reuters) – The main European stock markets are up on Tuesday at the start of the session against a background of relative optimism about the impact of the spread of the Omicron variant.

European indices are also supported by the advance of stock markets in Asia and Wall Street, where the S&P 500 ended Monday night on a record, posting at the end an increase of 1.38%.

In Paris, the CAC 40 gained 0.22% to 7,156.00 points around 08:39 GMT, not far from its historic high last month (7,183.08). In Frankfurt, the Dax advance by 0.35%.

The London Stock Exchange remains closed for “Boxing Day”.

The EuroStoxx 50 index is up 0.2% and the Stoxx 600 is up 0.36%.

Despite the rapid spread of the new Omicron variant and the return of health measures in many countries, investors globally believe that the new wave of the pandemic should not jeopardize the economic recovery.

In France, Prime Minister Jean Castex announced on Monday evening a series of new health measures aimed at curbing the spread of the coronavirus, while excluding a new curfew.

On the Paris Stock Exchange, the impact is limited: Elior, which could suffer from the introduction of an obligation to telework at least three days a week, fell by 1.09%. Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield gives up 0.58%, the red flag of the CAC 40. In contrast, Eurofins Scientific is up 1.45%.

(Report Blandine Hénault, edited by Marc Angrand)