The Paris stock market is expected to open slightly higher on Friday, as investors continue to play it safe just hours before the release of the latest U.S. employment report, which will serve as the real highlight of this first week of the year on financial markets.

By around 8:15 a.m., the January "future" contract was up 21.5 points at 8,269.5 points, signaling a positive start.

As usual, market participants will be watching closely at 2:30 p.m. for the U.S. nonfarm payroll figures, which could greatly influence market expectations regarding the Federal Reserve's monetary policy over the coming months.

Various data released ahead of the report have confirmed the currently sluggish momentum in the U.S. labor market, with perhaps the exception of the healthcare sector.

With the hiring rate at its lowest level in 15 years and layoffs remaining very low, the market is in a precarious balance—a situation likely to be reflected in the snapshot provided by the Department of Labor early this afternoon.

Consensus forecasts are for an average of 60,000 nonfarm jobs created in December, roughly in line with November's 64,000, with the unemployment rate expected to ease to 4.5% after climbing to 4.6% the previous month.

"What the market wants to know is whether employment is cooling off enough for the Fed to become more accommodating, or if it remains too strong for them to loosen the reins on rates," explains Linh Tran, market analyst at XS.com.

"If the jobs market remains too robust, especially on the wage side, things will get complicated, because service inflation is still highly dependent on compensation. So, numbers that are too strong will push the Fed to remain cautious, and for longer than the market currently expects," she adds.

"Given the already stretched valuation levels at the moment, even the slightest adjustment in rate expectations can move stocks sharply," she concludes, reminding us of the strong correlation between stock market movements and U.S. jobs data.

In any case, the U.S. employment report will be crucial in determining the CAC 40's weekly performance. So far this week, the Paris index has gained around 0.6%.

Since January 1st, its rise has reached nearly 1.2%, thus tending to confirm the stock market adage that the first trading sessions of the year are traditionally positive for equities.

Investors will also be watching eurozone retail sales figures later in the morning, followed by the University of Michigan's consumer confidence index this afternoon in the U.S., on the lookout for any signs of a potential dip in consumption.

The decision by the U.S. Supreme Court on the legality of Donald ?Trump's so-called "reciprocal" tariffs, expected this afternoon, could also move the markets.

"If the court rules against Trump, we expect the Trump administration to quickly rebuild its tariff wall, but this time on the basis of different legal grounds," note Danske Bank's teams this morning, specifying that the likelihood of the court upholding the tariffs currently appears limited to around 30%.