The Paris Bourse is likely to open on a hesitant note on Wednesday, after the previous day's record highs, in markets frozen in time for the Fed's monetary policy decisions.

At around 8:15 a.m., the future contract on the CAC 40 index - December delivery - was virtually unchanged at 7548.5 points, heralding a stalled start to the session.

The Paris market has recovered 11% since its late-October low, to such an extent that the CAC 40 ended yesterday at a new all-time high of around 7582.5 points.

Today's action is likely to be much more limited ahead of what could be the US Federal Reserve's first step towards a possible change of strategy in the months ahead.

At the end of a two-day meeting of its Monetary Policy Committee (FOMC), the Fed will issue its statement at 8:00 p.m. and Chairman Jerome Powell will hold a press conference some 30 minutes later.

For the third meeting in a row, the Washington-based institution is likely to leave rates unchanged, a stance justified by the continuing slowdown in inflation, confirmed yesterday by the latest consumer price figures.

Above all, however, investors will be on the lookout for any clues as to the likelihood of a rate cut this spring or over the summer.

The FOMC members' rate assumptions, known as "dot plots", will serve as a test case.

"The new projections will confirm that rate cuts are envisaged in 2024, but without giving any indication as to the date of the first cut", predict the economists at Oddo BHF.

While waiting for the Fed's announcements, market participants will be able to look at new indicators that will enable them to assess the reality of the Fed's monetary easing plans.

In this context of searching for possible clues, investors will be keeping a close eye on the publication of industrial production prices in the USA at 2.30pm.

In the eurozone, industrial production figures, due at 11:00 a.m., should confirm the loss of momentum in the European manufacturing sector and the increasingly real threat of a recession.

The yield on 10-year US government bonds fell back below 4.21% in the wake of yesterday's unsurprising inflation figures, while its German equivalent fell back to 2.22%.

On the currency markets, the euro weakened slightly, to around 1.0785 against the dollar, ahead of the ECB's monetary policy decisions, expected tomorrow.

On the oil front, crude oil prices sank inexorably to their lowest levels since June, as the US Energy Information Agency (EIA) raised its production forecasts.

This means that the market will remain well supplied, while demand is in free fall", emphasized Danske Bank analysts this morning.

Brent crude is currently down 0.7% at $72.7 a barrel, while US light crude (WTI) is down 0.6% at $68.2 a barrel, ahead of the release of weekly US inventories this afternoon.

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