CAC 40 Dips Almost 0.5% in Cautious Trading

TotalEnergies

On Wednesday, France’s equity benchmark CAC 40 experienced a decline as investors responded to earnings updates and ongoing developments related to the Middle East conflict. Market participants are also anticipating monetary policy announcements from the Federal Reserve later in the day, as well as from the European Central Bank and the Bank of England scheduled for tomorrow.

The CAC 40 experienced a decline of 35.87 points, reflecting a decrease of 0.44%, settling at 8,068.22 approximately one hour after noon.

  • TotalEnergies experienced a modest increase. The company announced a 51% increase in net profit for the first quarter, reaching $5.81 billion, compared to $3.85 billion in the previous year. Adjusted net income attributable to TotalEnergies shareholders reached $5.39 billion, reflecting a 29% increase from the previous year’s figure of $4.19 billion. Adjusted earnings per share increased to $2.45, compared to $1.83 in the previous year.
  • Pernod Ricard and Kering experienced declines of 2.7% and 2.4%, respectively.
  • AXA experienced a decline of approximately 2%, whereas Vinci saw a decrease of nearly 2%.
  • Safran, Dassault Systemes, Veolia Environment, Eiffage, Accor, Essilor Luxottica, Hermes International, LVMH, Renault, BNP Paribas, Danone, and Thales experienced declines ranging from 1% to 1.7%.
  • STMicroelectronics experienced an increase of nearly 4%.
  • Capgemini experienced an increase of approximately 3%, while Airbus saw a rise of 1.7%. Legrand experienced an increase of 0.7%.

In recent economic developments, the European Commission reported that the Eurozone Economic Sentiment Indicator declined for the third consecutive month, reaching 93.0 in April 2026. This marks its lowest level since November 2020 and falls short of market expectations of 95.2, as apprehensions regarding the economic outlook intensify due to the ongoing conflict in Iran.