The Paris Bourse is expected to rise slightly on Tuesday morning following a further easing of Chinese monetary policy, although trading volumes are likely to be low on the Assumption Day holiday.

At around 8:15 a.m., the 'future' contract on the CAC 40 index - for delivery at the end of August - was up 24 points at 7377.5 points, heralding a green start to the session.

Faced with the slowdown in the country's economic recovery, the People's Bank of China (PBOC) cut the interest rate on its medium-term credit facility for the second time in three months.

The news was greeted with little enthusiasm by investors, who know that this measure comes in the wake of lower-than-expected indicators that have rekindled concerns about growth in the world's second-largest economy.

On the activity front, China's industrial production
decelerated to +3.7% year-on-year in July, whereas economists were forecasting 4.4% growth on average.

Retail sales, up by just 2.5% year-on-year last month, also came in below consensus.

Following these statistics, the Shanghai Stock Exchange's SSE Composite index lost 0.1% at the end of the session, while in Hong Kong, the Hang Seng dropped 0.8%.

Investors are now awaiting the release of US retail sales data in the early afternoon, in order to gauge the evolution of American consumption, which is holding up much better.

These figures are expected to show an acceleration in the rise in purchases by Americans, to +0.4% last month, following the 0.2% recorded in June.

A positive surprise would certainly confirm the strength of the US economy, but it could also provide ammunition for the Federal Reserve to continue raising rates.

On the bond front, the yield on 10-year Treasuries continues to hover above 4.18%, a sign that investors expect the Fed to go higher and longer in its tightening cycle.

Investors will also be looking ahead to the ZEW index measuring investor sentiment in Germany, expected later this morning, followed by the quarterly results of US home improvement giant Home Depot, scheduled for mid-day.

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