The Paris Bourse is set to open higher on Wednesday morning after the long Christmas weekend, in what are likely to be thin trading volumes, as the positive momentum on Wall Street continues.

At around 8:15 a.m., the future contract on the CAC 40 index - January delivery - was up 43 points at 7,629 points, suggesting a green start to the session.

The Paris market has been taking a breather for the past few sessions, in unremarkable volumes, following a series of record highs in anticipation of the first rate cuts in the USA next year.

With five days to go before the close of the financial year, the CAC 40 index has posted an annual gain of around 17%, one of its best performances of the last ten years, but remains stuck below its resistance level of 7,600 points.

This rise contrasts with the heavy downturn of 2022, due to soaring inflationary pressures and the prospect of tighter monetary policies from the major central banks.

The last few sessions of December are generally quiet, a phenomenon which should be reinforced this year by the shortened week (only three sessions in Paris) between Christmas and New Year.

The trend should nevertheless be supported by the continued rise in US equity markets, which were open yesterday and appear set for a ninth consecutive week of gains.

The Dow Jones finished up 0.4% at 37,545 points on Tuesday, while the Nasdaq Composite ended the session with a 0.5% gain at 15,075 points. As for the S&P 500 (+0.4%), it posted its best close of the year at over 4,774 points.

There are no major economic indicators on today's agenda in Europe
or in the United States, and we'll have to wait for tomorrow's release of US jobless claims for the week's only major statistic.

The lack of liquidity at the end of the year and investor optimism could nonetheless enable indices to move higher, as if the end-of-year rally were paving the way for 2024.

The recent evolution of the Federal Reserve's message and, to a lesser extent, that of the ECB, has provided a further positive surprise and a note of hope for the year ahead.

In the eurozone, investors are thinking that the reversal in rates and the end of the purchasing power shock linked to the rise in the cost of money could encourage a rebound from the recent stagnation.

Deprived of guidance, US bond markets are not giving up any of last week's gains: the yield on 10-year Treasuries is even down one basis point to below 3.88%.

On the currency markets, the euro continues to rally against the dollar, testing new highs since mid-July at 1.1050, with investors betting that the US Fed will beat the ECB with its first rate cuts.

On the energy front, oil confirmed its recent recovery, with a barrel of
light US crude (WTI) lifting its recent resistance to the $75 mark, trading at around $75.5.

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