(BFM Stock Exchange)-The Parisian index signs its first increase in the week, invigorated by the announcement of a trade agreement between the United States and the United Kingdom.

First increase in the week on the Paris Stock Exchange. The CAC 40 increased from 0.98% to 7,694.44 points at the closure, relaunched by a positive development on the customs duties file this Thursday, May 8.

Customs white smoke with the United Kingdom

Donald Trump announced on Thursday a “complete and global agreement” between the United States and the United Kingdom, on its Truth Social network. . He will be the first in a “long series”.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer praised on Thursday “a historic day”, referring to the customs duties agreement between Washington and London and on the anniversary of the Allies’ victory in 1945. The contours of this agreement must still be specified even if some measures have been announced.

The importation of British steel products in the United States will no longer be subject to customs duties, against a previous taxation of 25%. Taxes targeting car exports will be reduced to 10% up to 100,000 vehicles per year, Downing Street said in a statement “which will allow Jaguar Land Rover to save hundreds of millions per year,” said the British government.

This first trade agreement comes when American and Chinese delegations must also meet in Bern, Switzerland this weekend.

The Fed takes its time

The prospect of a clarification in the customs sky has relegated to the background the announcements of the central banks of the last hours. The Bank of England (BOE) lowered its main rate of 25 base points on Thursday (0.25 percentage points) to 4.25%on Thursday.

“The Bank of England has lowered its levels by a quarter of a point, but has not confirmed market expectations concerning faster rate reductions. Our basic hypothesis is that the bank continues to reduce its rates once a quarter, although we do not exclude a faster rate of reduction if we are right to say that the inflation of services decreases faster than the BOE is currently providing for it.”

These announcements were preceded by those of the American Federal Reserve (Fed) on Wednesday evening. As expected by the market, the Fed has left its guiding rates unchanged in a range between 4.25% to 4.50% its President Jerome Powell, however, pointed to higher unemployment and more sustained inflation.

The meeting of the Fed Monetary Policy Committee “of May is not far from being a non-event, the Fed continuing to take its time to assess the effects on inflation and the labor market of the strong increase in customs duties. As long as the employment report does not show a significant significance sign, the monetary status should not be questioned”, comments Bastien Drut, responsible for strategy and economic studies.

Automotive and semiconductors in the spotlight

Automobile values ​​were well oriented after the European Parliament’s decision to lighten CO2 emissions for manufacturers and the announcement of customs duties reduced for imports of British vehicles in the United States. Strong increase in CAC 40, Stellantis jumped 5.1% and Renault 2.3%

The European values ​​of semiconductors were also in sight after an article by Bloomberg which indicated that the Trump administration would reflect on softening export restrictions on fleas. On the Paris Stock Exchange, Stmicroelectronics resumed 1.8%, Soitec 2.2%and X-FAB 3.25%.

Solvay, on the other hand, dropped 9.5%, after having tightened its profitability target and reduced its investment envelope for 2025.

On the side of small and medium capitalizations, Neurons sold 3.4% after announcing its quarterly income and expressed “limited visibility” for 2025.

On the foreign exchange market, the euro yields 0.5% against the dollar to 1.1248 dollars. The prices of black gold bounce after relaxation on the field of customs duties. The July Brent of the North Brent contract bounces 2.9% to 61.96 dollars a barrel while that of July on the WTI listed in New York flashes from 3.3% to 59.98 Dollars per barrel. Note the return of Bitcoin over 100,000 dollars for the first time since February, carried by the trade agreement between Washington and London.