The Paris Bourse is expected to be in the green on Thursday morning, following the rather accommodating tone adopted the previous day by the US Federal Reserve.

At around 8:15 a.m., the 'future' contract on the CAC 40 index - November maturity - gained 46 points to 6989, which could enable it to approach the 7000-point threshold at the opening.

As expected, the Fed maintained its monetary policy unchanged last night, but hinted at the possibility of a further rate hike.

Analysts say that Jerome Powell's phlegmatic press conference suggests that the US central bank's tightening cycle may be over.

For this FOMC, Jerome Powell was still obliged to leave some doors open for what comes next, but the sense of urgency has disappeared and we sense a sort of serenity about the disinflation process," says Bastien Drut, head of strategy and economic research at CPR AM.

"It is therefore even more likely that the rate hike cycle is over," he adds.

Communication will become increasingly difficult as underlying inflation falls, as restrictive policy is increasingly called into question", concludes the economist.

According to the CME's FedWatch barometer, the probability of a tightening at the end of the December meeting has fallen to 19.7%, compared with an estimated 37% a month ago.

As a result, New York stock markets rose last night, with the Dow Jones gaining 0.7% and the Nasdaq Composite recovering more than 1.6%.

The Fed's announcements are also supporting the trend in Asia, with Tokyo's Nikkei index currently up 1.1% and the Hong Kong stock market up 0.6%.

The Fed's relatively nuanced message and Jerome Powell's rather comforting words are weighing on bond yields, with the US 10-year falling back below 4.79%, its lowest level since mid-October.

The Bank of England is now due to announce its monetary policy decision at midday.

In view of the fall in inflation in the country and the many downward signals on economic activity, the BoE has enough to justify a continuation of the monetary pause begun in September.

The European manufacturing PMIs will also liven up the start of the session, providing new indications as to the impact of the ECB's tightening on business confidence in the sector.

In the U.S., at lunchtime, investors will be following Q3 productivity figures and jobless claims, before industrial orders.

The European stock market will continue to be animated by numerous corporate publications, with the accounts - among others - of ING, Novo Nordisk, Shell and Ferrari.

Across the Atlantic, many heavyweights are also due to report their results this Thursday, including Apple, which will unveil its much-anticipated quarterly performance after trading.

In the energy market, oil prices remain hesitant, torn between the prospect of a slowdown in the global economy and persistent tensions in the Middle East.

The April contract for US light crude (West Texas Intermediate, WTI) is up 0.8% at $80.1, while Brent is up 0.9% at around $85.4 a barrel.

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