Stocks should see little movement before the start of the US earnings season. The Eurostoxx 50 opens at 3,831.47 points (-0.21%), the CAC 40 at 6,537.41 points (-0.28%), the DAX 40 at 14,124.95 points (-0.48%), the FTSE 100 at 7,576.66 points (-0.55%), the SMI at 12.378.87 points (-1.20%), the AEX at 716.38 points (+0.23%), the IBEX 35 at 8,578.00 points (-0.08%), the DJIA at 34.220.36 points (-0.26%), the S&P 500 at 4,397.45 points (-0.34%) and the Nikkei 225 at 26,763.43 points (+1.63%).

In terms of foreign exchange rates, the change from the New York close shows EUR/USD opening at 1.0835 (+0.06%), EUR/JPY at 136.08 (+0.22%) and USD/JPY at 125.60 (+0.16%).

Investors will react on Tuesday to the latest forecast from the Bank of France for the French economy. The institution now expects growth to slow to 0.25% in the first quarter, whereas it had previously expected growth of 0.5% for this period. In the fourth quarter, growth in France reached 0.7%. On the corporate side, luxury goods group LVMH reported a sharp rise in first-quarter sales on Tuesday evening, but warned that recent health restrictions in China could dampen its sales in the coming weeks.

European stock markets are expected to open on a hesitant note Wednesday as investors await the results of JPMorgan bank, which will open the ball of first-quarter publications in the United States at midday, and react to the latest statements by U.S. central bankers. At 7:35 a.m., the CAC 40 futures contract was up 20 points, or 0.3%, according to data from broker IG Markets. The DAX 40 contract was giving up 4.5 points, or 0.03%, and the FTSE 100 contract was down 1 point, or 0.01%. In March, core inflation came in at 0.3% from the previous month, after 0.5% in February, according to Labor Department figures. Over the past 12 months, however, prices excluding food and energy have risen by 6.5%, three times the central bank's target of 2% per year on average.

Wall Street ended lower on Tuesday after the announcement of an inflation at the highest level in 40 years in the United States, which allows however to hope for a beginning of stabilization of prices in the next months. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) lost 0.3 percent to 34,220.36 points. The broader S&P 500 index gave up 0.3 percent to 4,397.45 points, and the Nasdaq Composite also closed down 0.3 percent to 13,371.57 points. In Asia, the major stock markets were mixed on Wednesday. In Tokyo, the Nikkei index gained 1.6% in late trading, recovering after two consecutive sessions of decline. The Hang Seng Index of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange gained 0.3%, but the Shanghai Composite fell 0.2%.

Yields on two- and 10-year Treasuries fell the most in weeks on Tuesday as investors reacted to details in the March U.S. consumer price report that suggested U.S. inflation may have peaked. On Wednesday morning, the yield on the 10-year Treasury note, the market's benchmark security, continued to fall, to 2.740% from 2.777% late Tuesday.

The euro was up slightly against the dollar Wednesday as market participants digested signs that core inflation in the U.S. is slowing and that some of China's Covid-19 restrictions are easing.

Oil prices were little changed Wednesday morning, after benefiting overnight from the lifting of some health restrictions in parts of the Chinese city of Shanghai where no Covid-19 infections have been reported in the past two weeks. At 7:25 a.m., the June Brent crude contract was down 3 cents at $104.61 a barrel, while Nymex-listed May light sweet crude (WTI) was down 14 cents at $100.46 a barrel.