The Paris Bourse began the session slightly higher on Thursday morning, before turning its attention to the United States, where numerous economic indicators are expected in the afternoon. The CAC40 index advanced by around 0.4% to 8010 points.

Macroeconomic data are particularly closely watched by investors at the moment, following signals from the Fed that it is likely to maintain high rates for a longer period than previously hoped.

Against this worrying backdrop, they are hoping that the statistics expected later today will not reflect too much dynamism in activity, which could prompt the Federal Reserve to postpone its rate-cutting plans once again.

Among the day's many indicators are the jobless claims figures, which will provide information on the state of the labor market, which is closely watched by the US central bank.

Also in their sights will be the Philadelphia Fed's index, followed by the Conference Board's leading indicators, which will gauge the country's growth prospects.

Traders are counting on these indicators to enable stock market indices to get back on the right track after their sharp decline in recent days.

In Paris, the CAC 40 index remains on a five-out-of-seven-session losing streak, a downward movement which led it to fall back below its important 8,000-point support yesterday.

Wall Street also continued to consolidate on Wednesday, with investors once again massively selling technology stocks, led by semiconductors.

'We believe that the artificial intelligence craze is now over, and recommend greater exposure to cyclical and value stocks', wrote Danske Bank this morning.

On the bond market, the situation remains calm, with the yield on 10-year US Treasuries, which had reached five-month highs on Tuesday, easing to 4.59%.

This easing also brings relief to European Treasuries, with the yield on the German Bund also down slightly to 2.46%.

Oil prices are stabilizing, caught between data showing a rise in US crude inventories yesterday and a geopolitical climate that remains very tense.

In London, Brent crude recovered timidly by 0.2% to $87.5 a barrel, while US light crude (WTI) advanced by just over 0.1% to $82.8.

In the stock market, Danone announced sales of €6.79 billion for the first quarter of 2024, down 2.5% due to strongly negative scope (-5%) and currency (-3.2%) effects, and despite a positive contribution of +1.7% from hyperinflation.

Forvia reported first-quarter 2024 sales of 6.53 billion euros, down 1.7% on a reported basis but up 3.1% organically, outperforming global automotive production by 390 basis points.

For the first quarter of 2024, Edenred reported total revenues of 685 million euros, up 21.4% (+20.5% on a comparable basis), including operating sales of 625 million, up 18.8% (+16.9% on a comparable basis).

Barclays renewed its 'overweight' recommendation on Air Liquide on Thursday, while raising its target price for the stock from 190 to 220 euros.

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