CAC 40 Falls Despite Gains in STMicroelectronics and Vallourec

STMicroElectronics

Following a slight uptick in early trading, the French stock market exhibited some weakness on Wednesday as investors adopted a cautious stance, processing earnings reports and regional economic indicators while also evaluating ongoing developments in the Middle East. Investors are also anticipating the forthcoming meeting in Beijing between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping.

The benchmark CAC 40 declined by 27.98 points, representing a decrease of 0.35%, standing at 7,951.94 shortly after noon. The index had risen to 8,029.94 earlier in the session.

  • STMicroelectronics experienced an increase exceeding 5.5%.
  • ArcelorMittal experienced an increase of 2.5%.
  • Legrand experienced an increase of 1.1%, whereas Orange, Eurofins Scientific, EssilorLuxottica, Engie, Carrefour, Bureau Veritas, and Bouygues saw gains ranging from 0.5% to 1%.
  • Steel tubes manufacturer Vallourec experienced a significant increase of 7.5% following the announcement of robust Q1 2026 results.
  • Train manufacturer Alstom experienced a notable increase of 3.2% following the announcement of a record order intake for the latter half of fiscal year 2025/2026.
  • Danone and Eiffage experienced a decline of nearly 2% from their prior closing levels.
  • Thales, Safran, Vinci, Renault, L’Oreal, LVMH, Euronext, and Societe Generale experienced declines ranging from 1% to 1.7%.

In economic news, France’s consumer price inflation increased to 2.2% in April, consistent with the flash estimate, and up from 1.7% in March, according to final data from the statistical office INSEE. This marked the swiftest rise since July 2024, at which point inflation stood at 2.3%. In April, EU harmonized inflation experienced an acceleration, rising to 2.5% from 2% in the preceding month.

Recent data indicates that France’s unemployment rate has unexpectedly increased to 8.1% in the first quarter, reaching its highest level since the first quarter of 2021. Eurostat has verified that the Eurozone economy experienced a growth of 0.1% in the first quarter of 2026 relative to the preceding quarter.