After yesterday's slight consolidation, the Paris Bourse is set to open slightly higher on Friday, in the hope that US employment figures this afternoon will confirm the trend towards a slowdown in the pace of job creation.

At around 8:15 a.m., the futures contract on the CAC 40 index - for delivery at the end of January - was up 43 points at 6806 points, signalling a moderate opening advance.

The Paris market ended Thursday's session down a modest 0.2%, at 6,761 points, marking a pause after three consecutive sessions of gains, which had enabled it to generate a cumulative gain of 4.5% since Monday morning.

Nevertheless, the market is likely to remain subdued as it awaits the publication at 2.30pm of the US employment report, the high point of a week lived to the rhythm of economic indicators that have fueled expectations of rate hikes.

Economists are forecasting an average of 200,000 new non-agricultural jobs in December, after the 263,000 announced for November.

Investors will be on the lookout for any sign of a sharper-than-expected slowdown in employment after the indicators of the last few days, which have reinforced the scenario of the Federal Reserve maintaining a restrictive policy in the coming months.

Employment is slowing but not falling, against a backdrop of a shortage of available manpower", say the Oddo BHF teams.

"Wage gains have plateaued at around 5-6% since the summer, which is too high given the Fed's inflation target", explains the private bank.

According to the CME Group's FedWatch barometer, the consensus is currently for two 25-point rate hikes in February and March, although a 50-point hike in February cannot be formally ruled out, with an estimated probability of 41%.

The markets' reaction to the employment figures will therefore be decisive for the CAC 40's weekly performance: at this stage, the Parisian index is off to a spectacular start to the year, with a gain of 4.4%.

In addition to U.S. employment figures, investors will also be looking ahead to December's consumer price figures for the eurozone, which should confirm the trend towards easing inflationary pressures in the region.

European government bond yields are easing slightly ahead of the US employment figures, although the hopes of a rate cut that had buoyed the markets last autumn are fading with each passing week: the ten-year German Bund is back at 2.26%.

The US equivalent stabilized at around 3.72%.

The dollar fell slightly against the euro, deepening its losses of recent days: the greenback is now trading at around 1.0510 euros, its lowest level for almost a month.

The price of a barrel of oil rose slightly, but is still heading for a drop of more than 7% over the week, due in part to fears about the health of Chinese industry.

Brent crude gained 0.6% to $79.2 a barrel, while West Texas Intermediate (WTI) gained 0.6% to $74.1.

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