The Paris Bourse is expected to open without a major trend on Monday, in the absence of any real catalysts on the market at the start of a week shortened by Easter.

At around 8:15 a.m., the April-delivery future contract on the CAC 40 index was down just two points at 8,172.5 points, a harbinger of an almost flat start to the session.

The market context looks relatively calm, with investors still digesting last week's accommodating announcements by the US Federal Reserve.

The Fed's conciliatory tone enabled Wall Street to return to the upside after two consecutive weeks of decline, with the Dow Jones, S&P 500 and Nasdaq posting weekly gains of over 2% to set new records.

The combination of better growth prospects, earnings-friendly inflation (with underlying inflation approaching 3%) and the consistent pivot of central banks has created a new investment environment", points out Florian Ielpo, Head of Macroeconomic Research at Lombard Odier Investment Managers.

The trend was less favorable in Paris, where the CAC 40 gave up 0.2% last week, as investors were tempted to take some profits after the recent highs reached by the Paris index.

After a gain of almost 20% since the end of October, the CAC now seems to be stumbling over the technical barrier of 8250 points, a resistance zone closely watched by investors.

Variations are likely to remain limited this Monday, and the trend is unlikely to be very lively, in the absence of any major event or news of note.

The macroeconomic agenda looks particularly slim this Monday, with the publication after the Wall Street opening of new home sales, a relatively secondary indicator.

With no real market catalyst, investors will turn their attention on Friday to the publication of the PCE index, in the hope of finding clues as to whether inflation is continuing to slow.

While this indicator fell to its lowest level in almost two years in January, inflation statistics have tended to exceed expectations of late.

Investors will therefore have to react to these figures with a delay, as European and American markets will be closed on Friday for Good Friday.

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