The Paris Bourse is set to open slightly lower on Monday morning, after the CAC 40 ended the past week at record levels, posting its fifth consecutive week of gains.

At around 8:15 a.m., the future contract on the CAC 40 index was down 18 points at 7603, suggesting a slight consolidation movement after last week's euphoria.

As is often the case in the final weeks of the year, trading volumes are likely to be limited, especially as the markets seem to be beginning to yearn for a breather following the straight-line rebound seen since the end of October.

'After setting a new record close at 7.596.9 points, logic would dictate that the CAC 40 should experience some profit-taking this week", believes Christopher Dembik, Investment Strategy Consultant at Pictet AM.

"The context is propitious: there are no meetings of the major central banks, few statistics apart from inflation figures in the eurozone and the UK, and lower volumes due to the approach of the festive season", explains the analyst.

While the week could provide investors with an opportunity to make their final portfolio adjustments before the end of the financial year, they should also be keen to preserve the exceptional gains made in recent weeks, and over the course of 2023 in general.

Since January 1, the CAC 40 has posted a gain of around 17%, its fourth best annual performance in ten years.

Wall Street is not to be outdone, with gains so far reaching over 12% for the Dow Jones, almost 13% for the S&P 500 and some 41% for the Nasdaq Composite.

Above all, December has always been one of the best months for the S&P 500, according to data from Stock Trader's Almanac.

Over the 73-year period from 1950-2022, the S&P 500 has finished the month of December up 54 times", recalls Gregory Drahuschak, market strategist at Janney Montgomery Scott.

The turbulent weeks recently experienced by the markets may therefore have paved the way for the famous "end-of-year rally", especially now that the Fed has made its change of strategy ("pivot") official.

Nevertheless, this phenomenon tends to materialize in the last five sessions of the year that is ending and the first two of the one that is beginning.

On the economic front, Thursday's US household income and spending figures - which include the Fed's closely watched 'PCE' inflation index - will be the highlight of the week.

The market is also awaiting the conclusions of tomorrow's meeting of the Bank of Japan's Monetary Policy Committee, which is not expected to result in any normalization of monetary policy.

On the earnings front, the week's main releases are expected in the USA, where Nike and Micron will unveil their quarterly performances over the coming days.

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