PARIS (Reuters) – The main European stock markets showed small variations on Tuesday morning before the publication of inflation figures for the month of November in the euro zone, an essential data in the evolution of the trajectory of interest rates the European Central Bank (ECB).

In Paris, the CAC 40 rose 0.09% to 7,575.87 points around 08:35 GMT. In London, the FTSE 100 advances by 0.26% and in Frankfurt, the Dax gains 0.43%.

The EuroStoxx 50 index increased by 0.31% and the FTSEurofirst 300 by 0.23%. The Stoxx 600, which begins a sixth consecutive week in the green, gains 0.33%.

Futures contracts on Wall Street predict an almost stable opening for the Dow Jones (+0.04%), the Standard & Poor’s 500 (+0.09%) and the Nasdaq (+0.03%) the day after a session in the green.

Money markets, which are counting on a 150 basis point cut in ECB rates in 2024, will take note of data on consumer prices in the euro zone at 10:00 GMT. The Reuters consensus forecasts growth of 2.4% year-on-year in November, after an increase of the same magnitude the previous month.

François Villeroy de Galhau, governor of the Banque de France (BdF) and member of the ECB governing council, estimated on Tuesday that the Frankfurt institution should lower its rates “at some point” in 2024 after having left them at a plateau.

On the economic side, the French economy is expected to grow by 0.8% in 2023, according to the BdF, which lowered its forecast after a contraction in the third quarter, while maintaining its projections for 2024 and 2025.

On the stock market in Europe, the positive trend is led by the new technologies compartment (+0.78%) and that of transport and leisure (+1.3%).

In terms of values, Casino, whose action was suspended on Monday at the request of the distributor, resumed its trading on Tuesday with a jump of 8% before falling by 4.02% a few minutes after the first exchanges. The group is discussing with Les Mousquetaires and Auchan to sell its supermarkets and hypermarkets.

Virbac climbs 9.04%, the group having raised its turnover growth forecast for this year.

Covestro advances 2.15% after information according to which Abu Dhabi National Oil Co (ADNOC) is preparing to raise its offer for the chemical group to around 60 euros per share.

UBS rose 1.66% while Cevian Capital announced that it had taken a 1.3% stake in the Swiss bank for around 1.2 billion euros.

Equinor lost 1.94%, RBC having lowered its advice on the Norwegian energy group to “performance in line with the sector”.

(Writing by Claude Chendjou, edited by Kate Entringer)

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