The Paris Bourse is edging slightly higher on Friday morning, buoyed by expectations of a slowdown in the US labor market.

At around 8:15 a.m., the 'future' contract on the CAC 40 index - for delivery at the end of December - was up 12.5 points at 7448 points, suggesting a rather favorable opening.

The Paris market had consolidated horizontally yesterday, ending down an anecdotal 0.1% at 7,428 points, with volumes as anemic as ever and within narrow limits.

Friday's session promises to be livelier, culminating in the monthly report to be published at 2.30pm by the Labor Department, which will take on particular importance as the market awaits a rate cut by the Fed.

At stake will be a US employment figure for November that could validate the scenario of a rate cut as early as next March.

Conversely, a statistic well above expectations would complicate the Federal Reserve's task of recalibrating its monetary policy.

Economists are expecting job creation to rebound to 175,000 last month, after the 150,000 announced for October, and the unemployment rate to remain stable at 3.9%.

Both indicators will be closely watched, as job creation has slowed considerably since the start of the year, leading to the highest unemployment rate since January 2022 last month", points out Jim Reid, analyst at Deutsche Bank.

We therefore have many signals pointing to a deceleration in the labor market", he stresses.

Futures contracts are currently pointing to a bearish opening on Wall Street, but we will obviously have to wait for the employment report to see a real trend emerge.

Asian markets ended on a cautious note as they awaited US employment figures. The Tokyo Stock Exchange lost nearly 1.7%, while Hong Kong limited its decline to 0.1%.

The euro fell back to a two-week low of around $1.0780, as traders cautiously awaited the monthly US employment figures.

Crude oil prices, still penalized by fears surrounding global demand, attempted a slight rebound after hitting new six-month lows yesterday.

U.S. light crude (West Texas Intermediate, WTI) recovered 1.9% to $70.7 a barrel, while Brent gained 1.9% to $75.6.

On the bond market, the yield on 10-year U.S. Treasuries is back below 4.13%, the lowest since the summer, but investors know that better-than-expected U.S. employment figures would lead to renewed volatility in long rates.

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