Global markets are calmly digesting the latest statements from US officials on Thursday on rate developments and the US banking system, and are waiting for announcements from the British central bank.
European stock markets opened slightly lower.
Paris (-0.06%) and Frankfurt (-0.03%) were close to balance around 0840 GMT, while London fell by 0.45%.
The European banking sector fell slightly.
The Tokyo Stock Exchange's main index fell 0.17%, while Hong Kong jumped 2.34% and Shanghai 0.64%.
The US Federal Reserve (Fed) decided on an accommodative hike of only a quarter of a percentage point in its key rate and signaled that it was considering only one more increase of this order in the short term, in a context undermined by the banking crisis.
The tone of the Fed was perceived as accommodating by observers because the institution is now talking about the continuation of its monetary tightening, a sign that rate hikes could slow down.
The dollar was penalized by the prospect of a lower rate hike by the Fed this year.
It lost 0.36% against the euro at 0.9179 euro for one dollar around 08:30 GMT and hit its lowest since early February.
These announcements initially delighted American investors before the trend reversed, the three indices of the New York Stock Exchange ended down about 1.6%.
Read alsoThe Swiss National Bank raises its key rate by 0.5 points to 1.5%
Switzerland, England and Norway on the board
The Swiss central bank, which worked to secure the takeover of Credit Suisse this weekend, raised its key interest rate by 0.5 basis points on Thursday to bring it to 1.5% without ruling out future increases in interest rates. rates to ensure price stability.
And the Bank of Norway has opted to raise its key rate by 0.25 points to 3%.
Later in the day, the decision of the Bank of England (BoE) is expected.
The BoE, it had signaled at its last meeting that it could keep its rate unchanged at 4%, but inflation surprisingly rebounded to more than 10% in February and the economy held up better than expected.
