Europe's main stock markets were little changed on Thursday morning, in the wake of contrasting announcements from the US Federal Reserve (Fed), while monetary policy statements from the Bank of England (BoE) and the Swiss National Bank (SNB) are due later in the day.

In Paris, the CAC 40 lost 0.05% to 7,127.50 points around 08:45 GMT. In London, the FTSE 100 was down 0.58% and in Frankfurt, the Dax was down 0.03%.

The EuroStoxx 50 index gave up 0.17%, the FTSEurofirst 300 0.54% and the Stoxx 600 0.31%.

Wall Street futures forecast a rise of 0.5% for the Dow Jones, 0.74% for the Standard & Poor's 500 and 1.09% for the Nasdaq, following a session that ended sharply lower.

On Wednesday, the Fed announced a quarter-point increase in its main key interest rate, but hinted that it was on the verge of halting its monetary tightening cycle in the face of recent tensions on the financial markets. Its Chairman, Jerome Powell, however, said he would not rule out further rate hikes if necessary, leaving investors baffled. At the same time, U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen told a Senate hearing that she did not envisage a "blanket guarantee" for all bank deposits in the U.S., at the risk of reviving the crisis in the sector.

As for the BoE, a 25 basis point rate hike is expected by the markets, but the reacceleration of inflation in Great Britain to 10.4% year-on-year in February is putting the central bank under pressure at a time when the monetary tightening cycle is also supposed to be coming to an end.

Markets are divided over whether the SNB should raise rates by 50 basis points or 25 basis points following the emergency rescue of Credit Suisse, which was taken over by UBS. A rate hike by the Norges Bank is also expected.

On the stock market, the technology (+0.85%) and basic resources (+0.37%) segments led the Stoxx, benefiting from a possible lull in Fed rates and falling bond yields. The German two-year

lost almost ten basis points, to 2.6%, in the wake of its US equivalent.

The European banking stocks index lost 0.49%, as Citigroup downgraded its rating on the sector, believing that the rapid pace of interest rate hikes will further weigh on economic activity and bank profits. The intermediary sees the index remaining close to its current levels for the remainder of the year.

Among individual stocks, Sanofi jumped 4.77% after promising results from its Dupixent treatment for "smoker's bronchitis". Nantes-based Valneva, on the other hand, fell by 6.33% after its sales forecast for this year was down on the 361.3 million euros it had forecast for 2022.

Italian group INWIT gained 4.33% as sources told Reuters that French investment firm Ardian was considering a delisting bid for the telecom tower specialist. (Written by Claude Chendjou, edited by Blandine Hénault)