The Paris Bourse began Wednesday morning's trading session lower, with investors taking a breather from the sharp rises of recent weeks in anticipation of the US Federal Reserve's monetary policy decisions. The CAC40 index was down 0.6% at 8150 points.

At the end of a two-day meeting, the Fed will issue a statement this evening that will be closely studied by market participants in an attempt to get an idea of when the central bank will decide to lower rates.

Market operators will be closely scrutinizing the Washington-based institution's announcements, looking for precise clues as to the timing of the next round of monetary easing.

Fed Chairman Jerome Powell will also be speaking at his traditional press conference.

Traders currently see a 60% probability that the Fed will cut rates in June, according to the CME Group's FedWatch barometer, but their optimism could be challenged after the meeting.

Investors will be paying particular attention to new rate forecasts, or 'dot plots', with the risk that expectations of the next rate cut will once again be postponed.

The median scenario should still point to three rate cuts in 2024, but only just," warn Bank of America strategists.

Many analysts believe that the Fed is being forced into inaction by the resilience of the US economy, accompanied by a revival in inflation.

Both the Fed and the ECB would like to see further disinflation before they start cutting rates", reminds Amaury d'Orsay, head of bond markets at Amundi.

"Given the recent trend in underlying US services inflation, it makes sense for them to be patient", continues the manager.

Traditionally, investors prefer not to take strong buy or sell positions ahead of Fed decisions, so as not to get caught up in the wrong direction.

On the bond market, the yield on ten-year US Treasuries is easing a little, below 4.30%, ahead of the Fed's decisions. The yield on the German Bund with the same maturity was unchanged at 2.45%.

Crude oil prices fell back slightly from the previous day's annual highs, pending the release of US crude inventories by the US Energy Information Agency (EIA), scheduled for the afternoon.

Brent crude oil was down just 0.2% to $87.2 a barrel, holding above its $87 resistance level. U.S. light crude (West Texas Intermediate, WTI) lost 0.4% to 83.1 dollars, after approaching 83.5 dollars on Tuesday, its highest level since the end of October.

On the value side, Kering warned last night that its sales would fall sharply in the first quarter, weighed down by the underperformance of its Gucci brand, a warning that sent its share price down nearly 13% and dragged the entire luxury goods sector in its wake.

Citing a "difficult" economic environment, the group indicated that first-quarter sales should be down by around 10% on a like-for-like basis compared with last year.

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