PARIS (Reuters) – The main European stock markets are moving in small variations on Friday morning, the trend remaining cautious ahead of next week’s meetings of three major central banks despite the improvement the day before on Wall Street, which benefited in particular from the momentum in technology stocks.

In Paris, the CAC 40 lost 0.08% to 7,216.18 points around 07:50 GMT. In London, the FTSE 100 dropped 0.11% and in Frankfurt, the Dax fell 0.13%.

The EuroStoxx 50 index lost 0.07%, the FTSEurofirst 300 0.2% and the Stoxx 600 0.07%.

Over the week as a whole, the CAC 40 is down 0.72% at this stage and the Stoxx 600 is down 0.35%.

Index futures in the United States foreshadow a relapse on Wall Street the day after a session marked by the return of the S&P-500 to the “bull market”, the broad index of the New York Stock Exchange having gained more than 20% from its recent lows.

The positive trend on Wall Street was fueled by growing investor belief that the US Federal Reserve (Fed) will pass its turn next Thursday on an interest rate hike despite unexpected moves by central banks in Australia and Canada to resume their cycle of rising cost of credit.

This expected pause on Fed rates could however be temporary, with the Fedwatch barometer predicting a probability of around 80% on a rise in the cost of money on July 26th.

The European Central Bank (ECB) and the Bank of Japan (BoJ) also meet next week, while the Bank of England (BoE) will deliver its monetary policy decisions on June 22.

The American Vix index measuring volatility, which fell sharply on Thursday, falling to 13.53 points, its level before the COVID-19 pandemic, is rising slightly, just like its European equivalent which gains 2.2 % at 15.43 points.

On the Paris Stock Exchange, changes within the indices are in the news, with Edenred in particular gaining 0.39% thanks to its integration into the CAC 40 on June 19, while Vivendi, which will leave it, is down – 1.27%.

Dassault Systèmes lost 2.45% after the announcement of its medium-term profit forecast deemed “a little timid” by Jefferies. The group also indicated that Pascal Daloz would become its managing director as of January 1, 2024.

Elsewhere in Europe, the chemicals compartment suffered the biggest drop in the Stoxx 600 with British chemicals group Croda International plunging 13.81% following a warning on its annual profit forecast.

It leads in its fall BASF (-1.95%), Bayer (-1.21%) and Givaudan (-2.68%).

(Written by Claude Chendjou, edited by Kate Entringer)

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