PARIS (Reuters) – The main European stock markets posted an increase in the first exchanges on Friday at the end of a week dominated by the announcements of several major central banks.

The day is that of the “four witches”, the expiration of futures contracts and options on shares as on indices, regularly synonymous with increased volatility.

In Paris, the CAC 40 gained 0.51% to 7,328.35 points around 07:52 GMT. In London, the FTSE 100 takes 0.4% and in Frankfurt, the Dax advances by 0.23%.

The EuroStoxx 50 index is up 0.32%, the FTSEurofirst 300 0.35% and the Stoxx 600 0.42%.

Closing a week rich in monetary news, the Bank of Japan unsurprisingly left its policy unchanged despite stronger than expected inflation.

The BoJ remains an exception among the major economies, while the other issuing institutes committed to raising their rates more or less a year ago. The European Central Bank decided on Thursday to continue on this path by raising its key rates by a quarter of a point, its president adding that another increase in July was very likely.

Joachim Nagel, a “hawk” on the board of governors, for his part estimated that it might be necessary for the rise in rates to continue after the summer break.

In the same vein, several investment banks, such as JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs, are seeing the deposit rate peak at 4% after rising in July and September.

The Federal Reserve is taking a break, but only to give itself time to assess the impact of its policy on the economy.

While the Fed has clearly paved the way for more hikes – possibly two – some investors are hoping it won’t be so aggressive, as a series of U.S. statistics released on Thursday signaled resistance in activity and reduced inflationary pressures.

(Laetitia Volga, edited by Blandine Hénault)

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