The Paris Bourse is expected to decline on Friday morning, as investors continue to play it safe ahead of the release of monthly US employment figures, the real highlight of the week on the markets.

At around 8:15 a.m., the 'future' contract on the CAC 40 index was trading at 8064.5 points, down almost 100 points, suggesting a dark red opening.

After a strong start to the year and new all-time highs, the Paris market has lost momentum since the end of March, in the absence of any impetus to sustain the upward movement.

Over the week as a whole, shortened by Easter Monday, the CAC 40 is currently down by a slight 0.6%.

But this Easter break can also be seen as a simple return to normal before the big jobs date, which will dictate future movements on the financial markets.

The markets are hoping to move forward again thanks to figures as they like them: reassuring on the state of the economy, but not so vigorous as to call into question future rate cuts.

Economists are expecting a clear slowdown in job creation to 200.000 in March, compared with 275,000 the previous month, for an unemployment rate that would have remained stable at 3.9%.

The figures to be released by the Labor Department at 2:30 pm could influence market expectations regarding the Federal Reserve's monetary policy evolution.

'Labor market signals are not weak enough to offset bullish inflation surprises. Hence the Fed's status quo', explain analysts at Oddo BHF.

Proof of the markets' great sensitivity to this theme, Wall Street was the victim of a rare reversal last night following statements by Neel Kashkari, President of the Minneapolis Fed.

He warned that 'if inflation continues to follow a pattern of declines and occasional spikes, the question arises whether we should not abandon any rate cuts this year'.

These words were a cold shower in New York, where the Dow Jones fell by more than 1.3% on Thursday at the final bell, while the Nasdaq corrected by 1.4%.

While some strategists see this as no more than a slight blip in an underlying trend that remains bullish, others see it as a prelude to a correction that is now inevitable.

"The stock markets' solid start to the year increases the risk of renewed volatility in the short term", warns Larry Adam, Chief Investment Officer at Raymond James.

These markets usually experience three to four correction sequences of at least 5% per year, and the last one so far dates back to September 2023", he points out.

While awaiting the US employment data, the session will be punctuated by other indicators such as industrial production in France, industrial orders in Germany and retail sales in the euro zone.

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