The Paris Bourse is set for a moderate rise in early trading on Wednesday, with investors wary of taking too many risks ahead of the publication of European PMI indices.

At around 8:15 a.m., the future contract on the CAC 40 index - maturing in February - gained 34.5 points at 7444 points, suggesting a slightly favorable opening.

The morning will be punctuated by the European flash PMI indices, which will give the first indications of private-sector activity at the start of the year.

"Long-term yields have fallen back a little since their peak last October", point out the economists at Oddo BHF. This is loosening financial conditions a little, and may bring some relief to companies", they add.

"We'd be surprised if this were enough to trigger a sharp upturn in sentiment", however, tempers the private bank, which notes that at current levels, business sentiment in Europe is pointing towards a slight contraction in activity at the start of the year.

Also to be followed this afternoon is the US PMI index, which, according to consensus, should confirm the recent slowdown in the world's leading economy.

On Tuesday, the New York Stock Exchange closed mixed, as the undeniable dynamism of the technology giants failed to fully offset the disappointing results of several Dow Jones index components.

Penalized in particular by 3M, the Dow gave up more than 0.2%, the S&P 500 gained 0.3% after setting new records, and the Nasdaq Composite advanced by 0.4%.

The Nikkei on the Tokyo Stock Exchange ended in the red (-0.8%), continuing its consolidation trend after hitting 34-year highs last week.

China's stock markets closed higher, buoyed by hopes that Beijing would introduce support measures to shore up the financial markets.

The CSI 300 index of large-cap stocks gained 1.1%, while the Hang Seng gained 2.1% in Hong Kong.

Corporate news could also liven up the session, with the results season now in full swing.

Last night, Netflix reported solid fourth-quarter results on the back of higher-than-expected subscriber numbers, sending the company soaring by more than 8% in after-hours trading.

On the Old Continent, Dutch semiconductor equipment specialist ASML announced this morning that its order intake had tripled on the back of sustained demand for its products.

On the bond front, the yield on 10-year Treasuries continued to react to expectations of a slower-than-expected easing of Fed monetary policy, rising to around 4.14%.

Investors also shunned the 10-year German Bund, the benchmark for the region, whose yield rose to 2.35% on the eve of the ECB's eagerly-awaited announcements.

Ahead of the publication of the PMI indices and the ECB meeting, the euro climbed back to around $1.0870 after suffering from the gloomy economic picture in the eurozone of late.

On the oil markets, the price of a barrel of US crude oil advanced timidly by 0.1% to $74.4, as we await this afternoon's publication of weekly inventories in the USA.

The price of a barrel of Brent crude oil rose by barely 0.1% to $79.6.

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