The Paris Bourse opened almost flat on Friday morning, but is on course for another week of gains, even if its favorable momentum weakens slightly over the Thanksgiving long weekend. The CAC40 index nibbles 0.1% towards 7285 points.

After a lacklustre day on Thursday, the trend is likely to remain very quiet again today, a quietness representative of the absence of activity that spreads to Europe when the American markets are closed.

For this last session of the week, investors should again avoid taking risks, knowing that Wall Street will close its doors at lunchtime.

US markets will only reopen for a short session on Black Friday, the day that kicks off the holiday trading frenzy.

For the week as a whole, the CAC 40 is currently up 0.6%, still well above its major resistance level of 7250 points, while the Euro STOXX 50 index is up around 0.5% since Monday morning.

The chartists at Kiplink Finance, who refer to a "technically perfect" bullish configuration, believe that the CAC's resistance enables it to envisage a rapid breakout above the 7310/7340 point upper zone.

"At this rate, we could soon be talking about an annual record again", predicts the Paris-based brokerage firm.

In the absence of catalysts, risk appetite remains fuelled by the hope of a lull in interest rates.

The ECB's 'minutes', published yesterday, showed that the Governing Council stood ready for further rate hikes, even if this option does not correspond to its baseline scenario.

Moreover, the PMI indices released on Thursday showed that activity in the eurozone contracted for the sixth month in a row in November, further reinforcing the likelihood of a recession, a scenario the ECB is seeking to avoid at all costs.

Against this backdrop, the Ifo business climate index for Germany, released this morning, is being particularly closely watched by investors.

The business climate in Germany improved slightly in November, but the rebound was insufficient to escape the current recessionary pressures, according to the monthly survey published on Friday by the Ifo institute.

Its business climate index, calculated from the responses of 9,000 companies, stood at 87.3 for the current month, compared with 86.9 in October, when economists were expecting an average index of 87.5.

In the US, the only indicator on today's menu is the PMI index, which seems to have stabilized slightly above the critical 50-point threshold since September.

At first glance, this balance signals a moderation in the pace of GDP growth after an exceptional third quarter (+4.9%).

On the currency markets, the euro is still down slightly against the dollar, above the 1.09 threshold, but heading for slight gains over the week as a whole.

Crude oil prices are hesitant as investors' attention gradually turns to Vienna, where ministers from OPEC and its allies will decide next week on their production strategy.

Brent crude oil nibbles 0.1% to $81.5 a barrel, while US light crude (WTI, West Texas Intermediate) drops 0.7% to $76.5.

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