The CAC 40 index futures contract fell 0.15% around 40 minutes before the opening of the session, after two sharp declines in a row this week.
"The European indices should open lower this morning in the wake of the publication of the + Minutes + of the Fed which confirmed that in 2022 there should be several increases of 50 basis points (in key rates, editor's note) as well as a faster and larger than expected decline in the Fed's balance sheet," said John Plassard, investment specialist at Mirabaud.
The U.S. central bank (Fed) is expected to accelerate rate hikes in the coming months, as several of its officials favor it in order to combat high inflation in the United States, according to the minutes of its policy committee meeting. of March 15 and 16, published on Wednesday.
To control inflation in the United States, the Fed believes that it could be "appropriate" to return "quickly" to so-called "neutral" levels, i.e. around 2 or 2.50%, while its rates, which it raised slightly in March, are currently between 0.25% and 0.50%.
This report “showed that Fed officials are increasingly alarmed by rising inflationary pressures and are determined to send a message to markets that they will act decisively to curb it,” confirmed Michael Hewson. , CMC Markets analyst.
"While the Fed's report was predictably supportive of tighter monetary policy, the European Central Bank's report today is likely to be more mixed," Hewson added.
The speech of the ECB seems out of step with its that of its American counterpart: a member of the executive board of the European institution warned Wednesday that a tightening of monetary policy in the euro zone could weigh down economic activity already weakened.
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Sanofi: the pharmaceutical giant announced on Thursday the European Commission's approval of its drug Dupixent to treat severe asthma in children aged 6 to 11.
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