The Paris Bourse is expected to rise on Monday for the first session of June, at the start of a week which should see the ECB cut rates for the first time since 2019.

At around 8:15 a.m., the future contract on the CAC 40 index - end-of-month delivery - gained exactly 50 points to settle at 8029 points, suggesting an opening well above the 8000-point threshold.

After a lacklustre month of May (+0.1%), the Paris market is hoping to get back on track and return to its recent record highs, even if the gaps could remain relatively limited before the major events of the next few days.

Investors are likely to adopt a wait-and-see attitude on the eve of what promises to be a busy week, in terms of both monetary policy and economic indicators.

Despite last week's better-than-expected inflation figures, there is now little doubt that the ECB will cut rates on Thursday in order to support the recovery of growth in the eurozone.

The most interesting point, however, will concern the trajectory of its rates after June, as the re-acceleration of inflation is likely to fuel debate about a possible ECB 'pause' in July.

Christopher Dembik, Investment Strategy Consultant at Pictet AM, warns: "The market will have to navigate by sight regarding monetary policy over the coming months, which should generate volatility.

Against this backdrop, the debt market continues to be closely watched. After last week's bout of tension, the yield on the 10-year German Bund is down to around 2.66%, compared with over 2.67% on Friday evening.

But it is the yield on French OATs that will be particularly closely watched this morning, following the decision by S&P to downgrade France's credit rating.

In the US, bond yields are easing modestly, with ten-year paper back at 4.51%.

Another major event of the week, the US employment report - expected on Friday - should confirm that the US job market remains solid.

The day's macroeconomic agenda also promises to be busy, as European investors will follow the publication of the final PMI indicators for the manufacturing sector in the early morning.

The US ISM will be published in the afternoon.

In the energy market, oil prices are little changed, despite OPEC+'s decision to extend its production cut to support prices.

Brent crude oil is down 0.3% to below $80.9 a barrel, while US WTI is also down 0.3%, falling back below $76.8.

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