The Paris Bourse is set to open slightly higher on Thursday, at the start of the penultimate trading session of 2023, which should see the CAC 40 index post one of its best performances in ten years.

At around 8:15 a.m., the CAC 40 futures contract - for January delivery - was up by almost 25 points at 7,613 points, suggesting that the opening could be close to the 7,600-point threshold.

The lack of activity typical of the holiday season does not call into question the quality of the 2023 stock market vintage, as the CAC is heading for a rise of around 17% this year.

The Paris market has been taking a breather for several days now, in unremarkable volumes, following a series of record highs a fortnight ago in the wake of the Fed's change of strategy.

The CAC had managed to break through the 7,600-point resistance barrier before drifting away from it over the past two weeks, in an anemic end-of-year market.

All the major equity markets posted double-digit performances for the year as a whole, against a backdrop of resilient economic activity and hopes of future rate cuts.

On the Old Continent, the STOXX Europe 600 index has risen by almost 12% since January 1.

Unlike in the US, where the surge of the "Magnificent Seven" - AI-related stocks such as Apple and Microsoft - boosted the trend, the 2023 uptrend benefited almost all European sectors.

With a gain of 30% this year, the European technology sector remains the big winner of 2023, ahead of industry (+29%) and agri-food (+26%).

On Wall Street, no catalysts or upsets disrupted the bullish inertia that has been at work for two months now, enabling the US markets to line up a 13th session of gains in a series of 14.

While the Nasdaq only posted a marginal gain of 0.2%, the Dow Jones finished up 0.3%, enough to set a double all-time intraday and closing record at 37,656 points.

Up 0.1%, the S&P 500 finished with its best ever closing at 4,781 points.

However, this optimism was tempered by concerns over the apparent slowdown in growth, which in recent weeks has led many analysts to adopt a more cautious approach to 2024.

In a context marked by the absence of a large proportion of investors, the only macroeconomic news of the day will arrive at 2.30pm with the publication of US jobless claims.

Despite the good form of the equity markets, government bond yields remain on a downward trend, continuing the trend seen since the end of October, fuelled by optimism about the evolution of monetary policies.

The yield on the ten-year German Bund fell back below 1.90%, while its US equivalent broke through the 3.79% barrier.

On the currency markets, the euro gained further ground against the dollar, and looks set to test its summer high of 1.1250 on July 14.

Gold - the inverse reflection of the greenback - rose by 0.2% to reach new all-time highs, not far from $2098.2 an ounce.

Oil prices confirmed their recovery against a backdrop of renewed dollar weakness and geopolitical tension, with the increasing number of attacks by Yemeni Houthi rebels, close to Iran, against ships in the Red Sea, disrupting world maritime trade.

U.S. light crude (West Texas Intermediate, WTI) recovered 0.2% to $74.2 a barrel, but is still heading for annual losses of over 7%.

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