After opening slightly higher (0.4%), the Paris stock market fell back to its equilibrium point, around 7425 points, driven by Pernod Ricard and Kering (+1.2%) but held back by Edenred (-2.9%) and Vivendi (-1.9%).

Investors are limiting risk-taking as the ECB announces the conclusions of its last monetary policy meeting of the year at 2.15pm, ahead of the traditional press conference by its President, Christine Lagarde.

The Frankfurt-based institution is expected to maintain its gradual approach to monetary easing, cutting its key rates by 25 basis points, a scenario expected by 85% of investors.

While the ECB is expected to reiterate that the evolution of its policy will remain data-driven, the deterioration of economic indicators on the Old Continent, particularly weak growth, argues in favor of further easing measures.

With this in mind, investors will be paying close attention to the central bank's growth and inflation projections, in an attempt to clarify their expectations for the months ahead.

Analysts believe that the key element of the meeting will be the central bank's updated economic forecasts.

Thus, "more than the decision itself, it is above all the visibility for 2025 that will be important", warns Thomas Giudici, Head of Bond Management at Auris Gestion.

The divergence in economic trajectory between the United States and Europe has probably never been greater, and it is perhaps high time for the ECB to break away from its American counterpart", adds the manager.

In addition to the ECB's announcements, investors will also be keeping an eye on producer prices and jobless claims on Wall Street in the early afternoon.

In French company news, Bic announced last night the acquisition of Tangle Teezer, a brand of high-quality detangling hairbrushes, for 200 ME. The group has also begun a transition process to appoint a new CEO by September 30, 2025, as Gonzalve Bich's term of office comes to an end.

Ahead of its Investor Day, Sopra Steria is announcing its financial targets for 2028, including an improvement in operating margin to between 10% and 11%, as well as an increase in return on capital employed before tax to around 20%.

Finally, the Seb group is announcing the validation by the Science Based Targets (SBTi) initiative of its new targets accelerating the reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, covering scopes 1, 2 and 3, by 2030 and 2050.


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