The Paris Bourse began the session on a stable note on Friday, with investors playing it safe after markets set new all-time highs yesterday. The CAC40 index remains close to 8175 points.

Over the week as a whole, the flagship index has so far posted a symbolic gain of around 0.2%.

The world's stock markets are preparing for a quiet end to a week essentially marked by confirmation of the Fed's accommodating tone.

For the past few weeks, investors have been looking to catch their breath after a bullish sequence fuelled by confidence in the economic outlook and the strength of the technology sector.

Although Wall Street managed a third consecutive session of gains last night, setting new record highs in the process, the trend weakened towards the end of the session.

On the technical front, the CAC 40 yesterday again stumbled on the 8250-point zone, considered a key level, but also a target for profit-taking by some traders.

The temptation to take profits is great in view of the current high valuations, which could push traders to take some gains on current levels while awaiting new catalysts.

'There will of course be a breather for the market. This is necessary after the spectacular rise at the start of the year", says Christopher Dembik, Investment Strategy Advisor at Pictet AM.

"In the long term, we remain convinced that the underlying trend is upward", the analyst moderates, however.

This view is shared by Alexandre Baradez, head of market analysis at IG France, who is not known for being the most bullish strategist in Paris.

According to the analyst, the Paris index still has considerable upside potential, with the psychological rather than technical 10,000-point level in sight.

I obviously don't think we'll go in a straight line to these levels, but these are achievable objectives over the medium term", he told Cercle Finance.

Although the final session of the week promises to be relatively light on economic data, investors will nevertheless be focusing on the Ifo business climate index for Germany, which was published this morning.

The rise in the Ifo Business Climate Index (BCI) from an upwardly revised 85.7 in February to 87.8 in March was well above expectations (consensus 86.0; CE 85.5), reports Capital Economics. It is at its highest level since last June.

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