The Paris Bourse opens the session higher on Friday, as it awaits the start of the US earnings season, which kicks off today at a time when markets are experiencing a complicated start to the year. The CAC 40 index climbed 1.1% to 7,465 points.

However, investors should refrain from taking too many risks in view of the current geopolitical turmoil, and as the quarterly earnings season gets underway later today.

With yesterday's higher-than-expected inflation figures in the US failing to generate much reaction, markets will be looking to corporate results to help them get back on track.

Since January 1, the CAC 40 index has fallen by almost 1%. The start of the 2024 financial year hasn't been much brighter on Wall Street, where the Nasdaq is down 0.3% so far this year.

US banking groups JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo, Bank of America and Citigroup will be the first components of the S&P 500 index to publish their quarterly results, at lunchtime.

Overall, S&P corporate earnings are expected to have risen by 1.3% year-on-year in the fourth quarter, according to estimates compiled by FactSet.

In financial services, earnings are expected to have fallen by 21% over the last three months of the year, due in particular to the recent halt in the rise in interest rates.

The results to be released over the next few weeks will be used above all to determine whether forecasts for 2024 should be revised, and if so, whether the valuations of listed companies should be reviewed.

"We probably need to pause for a moment, in order to take stock of the valuations reached recently", says Florian Ielpo, analyst at Lombard Odier Investment Managers.

"Our risk appetite indicator concludes that, for the time being, there is a declining appetite for risk-taking", stresses the professional.

After its recent record highs, the S&P 500 index is trading at 19.2 times expected earnings, compared with a ten-year average of 17.6, according to data from FactSet,

In addition to the first corporate releases, a number of macro-economic indicators are on the agenda this Friday, including industrial producer prices for December in the USA.

In France, consumer prices rose by 3.7% year-on-year in December 2023, up from +3.5% in November, according to Insee, confirming its provisional estimate published at the beginning of the month.

French household consumption of goods rose by 0.7% in November, mainly driven by spending on energy and clothing, according to data published on Friday by Insee.

On the energy market, oil prices remain on an upward trend, still supported by tensions in the Red Sea, as the United States and the United Kingdom carried out overnight strikes against Houthi rebel installations in Yemen.

The price of a barrel of Brent crude from the North Sea thus climbed 2.2% to $79.1, while its American equivalent, a barrel of West Texas Intermediate (WTI), gained 2.4% to $73.7, which should boost energy-related stocks.

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