After yesterday's pause, the Paris Bourse is set to resume its New Year's rally on Wednesday, ahead of the launch of the earnings season and the latest inflation figures, which appear to be viewed with confidence.

At around 8:15 a.m., the CAC 40 future contract - January expiry - was up 13.5 points at 6885.5 points, heralding a green start to the session.

The Paris market ended Tuesday's session slightly down by 0.5% at 6869 points, a decline that hardly dented the CAC's thunderous start to the year, which has still gained 6% since January 1.

While investors were more cautious yesterday, they were relieved that Fed Chairman Jerome Powell refrained from commenting on inflation, the recession or current monetary policy.

In the absence of any hawkish comments from Powell, Wall Street even moved higher after the close of the European markets", remarked one trader.

The Dow Jones ended with a gain of almost 0.6% at 3,3704 points, while the Nasdaq Composite gained 1% at 1,743 points.

Stock markets continued their upward trend, with investors still betting on a slowdown in the pace of rate hikes by the world's major banks in the months ahead.

The latest inflation figures, to be released tomorrow, could well reinforce their belief in a more accommodating monetary policy from 2023, accompanied by a "soft landing" for the economy.

Economists are hoping for a further slowdown in US inflation, which reached 7.1% in November, its lowest level in almost a year.

The big banks JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Citi and Wells Fargo will also be kicking off the quarterly earnings season on Friday.

Earnings of companies listed on the S&P 500 index are expected to fall by 4.1% in the fourth quarter of 2022, according to FactSet estimates, and pleasant surprises could once again be a bullish factor.

Apart from US oil inventories, no major indicators are on today's agenda this Wednesday.

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