The Paris Bourse is expected to rise slightly on Friday morning, which should enable it to consolidate its positive performance for the week, thanks in particular to the easing of inflation worries in the United States.

At around 8:15 a.m., the CAC 40 index futures contract - expiring in January - was up 16 points at 7,650.5, suggesting the possibility of a fourth session in the green.

On Thursday, the Paris market ended the day with a 2.1% gain at 7,634 points, returning above the 7,600-point threshold for the first time since last October.

Its gains were underpinned by a surge in the luxury goods sector, supported by Richemont's encouraging publication, but also by lower-than-expected US consumer price figures for December, which the previous day had reinforced expectations of further rate cuts by the Federal Reserve.

Barring any major change in trend, the CAC is currently heading for a rise of around 2.7% for the week as a whole.

The Parisian market's bullish revival has seen the Paris index gain just over 3.4% since January 1.

Conversely, US equity markets are showing real difficulty in stringing together bullish streaks at the start of the year, contrary to the recurring scenario that has dominated New York in recent months.

Wall Street was caught up in inflationary fears following the publication of the latest import price figures, which showed a year-on-year rise of 2.2% in December, the highest in two years.

At the close, the Dow Jones gave up 0.2% and the Nasdaq fell 0.9%, a victim of a reduced appetite for technology stocks following their spectacular surge in 2024.

New York index futures are currently forecasting a 0.1% rise in Wall Street's opening Friday.

On the economic front, investors are mainly awaiting the final figures for December consumer prices in the Eurozone, due out at 11:00 am.

According to Eurostat's preliminary estimate, inflation rebounded from 2.2% to 2.4% last month, mainly due to base effects affecting energy prices, which should not worry the ECB too much.

In the United States, housing starts, building permits and industrial production figures are expected, which should not have a major impact on the markets.

On the earnings front, the only major publication of the day will come from US oil services group SLB at midday.

However, investors may be tempted to sit on the sidelines in anticipation of Donald Trump's official inauguration as the 47th President of the United States, scheduled for Monday.

Investors, who initially welcomed the New York businessman's promises to cut taxes and deregulate the economy, seem to want to wait for the new administration's first steps before really positioning themselves.

If the new president's measures are designed to further increase the power of the New World, the side-effects of higher tariffs, the mass deportation of immigrant workers and drastic cuts in public spending could put a crimp in the well-oiled machinery of the American economy", warn the teams at La Financière de l'Echiquier (LFDE).

On the government bond market, the US ten-year yield stabilized at around 4.60%, moving away from the peak of over 4.80% reached at the beginning of the week.

The German equivalent is little changed at 2.53%, while the French OAT rate stands at 3.35%, leading the spread between the two countries' government bonds to widen to 82 basis points.

Oil, whose surge has been one of the highlights of the early part of the year, remains close to its highest levels since last summer.

Brent crude is up 0.4% to $81.6 a barrel, while West Texas Intermediate (WTI) is up 0.6% to $79.2.

Texas crude remains on course for a fourth consecutive week of gains, with weekly gains currently standing at over 3%.

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