(News Bulletin 247) – The Paris Stock Exchange seems to be heading for a slight rise on Monday morning, even if some investors should prefer to stay back from the stock market while awaiting the next announcements from the European Central Bank and the American Federal Reserve. .

Around 8:15 a.m., the ‘futures’ contract on the CAC 40 index – delivery at the end of June – advanced by 27.5 points to 7241 points, suggesting a moderate increase at the opening.

The equity markets experienced last week a sequence of transition and almost zero volatility, the wait-and-see attitude having limited the variations before the decisions of the major central banks.

Over the whole of the week which has just passed, the CAC has nevertheless managed to nibble 0.2% and to preserve its major technical support of 7200 points.

The trend was also favorable on Wall Street, where the S&P 500 index signed a fourth consecutive week of increases to return to highs of almost ten months.

The markets are obviously awaiting with great impatience the measures that the Fed will take on Wednesday, then the ECB on Thursday, in a context of ebbing inflation but also a slowdown in economic activity.

In the case of the Fed, Jerome Powell and his collaborators should opt for a ‘status quo’ after having carried out in recent months the strongest monetary tightening in the United States since 1994.

‘Macro data points to weakening demand, a necessary condition for reducing inflationary pressures. We therefore think that the break will be lasting, ”we predict at Oddo BHF.

The ECB should, for its part, raise all its key rates in the face of inflationary pressures which are easing, but which are still considered to be of concern by the central authority.

Investors, however, are hoping the Frankfurt-based institution will hint that its rate-tightening cycle is nearing an end and that only small adjustments at the margin are now to be expected.

“Knowing that the market is focused on easing inflation, it could react very favorably to signs of appeasement from the ECB, while a rigorous approach should be ignored”, say the teams. of Danske Bank.

The attention that will be paid to central banks, on the other hand, risks relegating macroeconomic news to the background, which nevertheless promises to be very dense with many statistics on the menu for the next few days.

Wall Street, in particular, is preparing for a week full of indicators that could strengthen the Fed’s resolve to favor a more cautious approach.

The consumer price figures in the United States, expected tomorrow, will be closely scrutinized by investors.

Signs of improvement on the inflation front would undoubtedly support the scenario of a ‘pause’ in Fed action and could thus support stock markets.

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