The main European stock markets were down on Thursday morning after three consecutive sessions of gains, as the US Federal Reserve's message in the minutes of its latest meeting, which was greeted with mixed reviews, prompted caution, while several economic indicators were expected, including producer prices in the eurozone.

In Paris, the CAC 40 lost 0.5% to 6,742.52 points around 09:00 GMT. In London, the FTSE 100 was down 0.16%, while in Frankfurt, the Dax was down 0.25%.

The EuroStoxx 50 index fell by 0.39%, the FTSEurofirst 300 by 0.32% and the Stoxx 600 by 0.2%.

Futures contracts on the main U.S. indices also point to a drop of 0.30% for the Dow Jones

0.28% for the Standard & Poor's 500 and 0.38% for the Nasdaq, following a volatile session.

The minutes of the Fed's December meeting, published on Wednesday, showed that US central bankers had agreed to slow the pace of rate hikes but remained focused on fighting inflation.

The meeting's "minutes" also stressed the "need to maintain flexibility and options" on rates in the face of rising prices.

The deputy managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Gita Gopinath, said on Thursday that inflation in the US had not yet turned a corner and that it was premature to claim victory.

On the statistics front, investors are awaiting the ADP US employment survey, scheduled for 13:15 GMT, which could provide a first glimpse of the state of the US labor market in December before the official report due on Friday.

In Europe, German exports posted an unexpected drop of 0.3% in November, against a backdrop of high inflation and economic uncertainty.

The rest of the session could be enlivened by data on producer prices in the Eurozone, as well as services PMI indices in Great Britain and the USA.

Meanwhile, on the pan-European Stoxx 600, the retail sector

(+2.09%) recorded the best sector performance, with the British clothing group Next (+7.93%), which on Thursday raised its profit forecast for the 2022-2023 financial year.

Ryanair (+5.6%) is also in demand after sharply raising its after-tax profit forecast for the year to the end of March.

In Paris, Saint-Gobain (+1.19%), Renault (+0.97%) and ArcelorMittal (+0.84%) make up the top three on the CAC 40, while Sanofi (-1.57%), Société Générale (-1.49%) and Legrand (-1.41%) are at the back of the pack. (Written by Claude Chendjou, edited by Blandine Hénault)