The Paris stock exchange is rising on Friday for the final session of a decisive week, mainly marked by the Federal Reserve's strategic decisions. The CAC 40 index is up 0.7% at 8,140 points.

The Paris market had gained 0.8% to 8,086 points last night, posting the best performance among European exchanges. The CAC now shows a gain of more than 0.3% for the week overall, meaning today's performance will be key in determining its final weekly tally.

Global equity markets have largely digested the latest announcements from the Federal Reserve, which refrained from adopting an overly restrictive tone despite the current strength of the U.S. economy and the sharp differences of opinion that persist within its monetary policy committee.

The post-FOMC period was notably positive for Wall Street, despite disappointment over Oracle's weaker-than-expected quarterly results, which rekindled fears of massive overinvestment in AI potentially weighing on the accounts of American tech giants.

Weighed down by Oracle's underperformance, which plunged more than 10% yesterday, the Nasdaq Composite did end Thursday's session in the red, but with only a limited drop of 0.2% to 23,593.8 points, reflecting the constructive mindset of market participants just weeks before the end of the year.

"Had this setback occurred just three weeks ago, the market reaction would have been much harsher," Danske Bank's teams noted this morning.

Signaling investor confidence, the Dow Jones climbed more than 1.3% last night to 48,704 points after setting a new all-time record during the day above 48,756.3 points, while the S&P 500 advanced 0.2% to 6,901 points, a gain that brought it within about twenty points of its all-time highs.

With the major uncertainty surrounding the Fed now lifted, the question remains whether markets still have enough fuel for the traditional year-end rally.

Historically, global stock markets tend to rise during the final weeks of the year, buoyed by window dressing in winning stocks from the previous year and early positioning for the year ahead.

However, the Dow Jones has gained 14.5% since January 1, while the S&P and Nasdaq are up 17% and 22% respectively, suggesting that most of the action may already have taken place.

In Paris, the CAC 40 has risen nearly 10% this year—a respectable showing given the political uncertainties that dampened momentum in 2025—but the Paris index is less than 3% from its all-time high, which could discourage investors from closing their books too early.

Now that the Fed meeting is behind us, the market will also be able to return to a more rational decision-making process, based on economic fundamentals and corporate earnings, with a new "season" arriving as early as January.

In the meantime, investors will focus next week on eagerly awaited final inflation and employment figures from the United States.

This will be the last full trading week before Christmas and New Year, which could also mean lighter trading volumes.

Among today's indicators are the final consumer price data in France. Consumer prices in France rose by 0.9% year-on-year in November 2025, the same rate seen in October, according to INSEE, which thus confirms its provisional estimate for last month.