The Paris Bourse is set to open higher on Monday morning, at the start of a crucial week marked by the Fed's monetary policy meeting and a new wave of corporate results.

At around 8.15 a.m., the future contract on the CAC 40 index - August delivery - gained 31 points to 7566.5, heralding a continuation of the recovery begun on Friday.

The Paris market had ended Friday's session with a gain of 1.2%, moving back above its major support at 7517 points, which had enabled it to limit its weekly decline to 0.2%.

However, stock markets are likely to be nervous, looking for a trend ahead of a busy week marked by an avalanche of quarterly results in the technology sector, interspersed with a monetary policy decision by the Federal Reserve.

The releases of heavyweights Microsoft, Meta, Amazon and Apple will be closely scrutinized, as investors have tended to abandon the "Magnificent Seven" in recent weeks.

Since its July 10 high, the Nasdaq Composite index has corrected by almost 7%, as these seven tech giants, which had been the main contributors to Wall Street's rise over the past year and a half, have fallen by more than 12%.

Microsoft, the world's second-largest market capitalization, will publish its accounts tomorrow evening, followed by Meta on Wednesday, then Amazon and Apple on Thursday evening.

Given that these four stocks alone account for almost 20% of the S&P's weighting, and that they are largely held by institutional investors, any disappointments could lead to further sell-offs, along the lines of Alphabet's heavily sanctioned publication last week.

"Summer is traditionally a time for questioning the dynamics of the global economy - with the resurgence of concerns about China - and the return of questions about the rise of technology stocks, particularly those that have benefited from the AI craze", points out Christopher Dembik, investment strategy advisor at Pictet AM.

In the US, the week will be by far the busiest of the earnings season, with a total of 171 S&P 500 components, including 30 Dow Jones, due to publish their second-quarter figures.

At this stage, 78% of the US companies that have already published earnings have exceeded analysts' expectations, compared with an average of 74% over the last ten years.

In France, a number of blue-chip companies such as Airbus, Danone, L'Oréal, Safran, Schneider and Société Générale will also be unveiling their accounts over the coming days.

The week will also be marked by the Federal Reserve's monetary policy meeting on Tuesday and Wednesday.

No rate changes are expected, but professionals are hoping that Chairman Jerome Powell will open the door to a possible rate cut in September.

The event may not move the markets that much," says Jim Reid, market analyst at Deutsche Bank.

"We'll probably have to wait for the Jackson Hole symposium (scheduled for August 22-24) for Powell to give a clearer signal in this direction," he concludes.

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