French stocks exhibited a varied performance on Thursday, as investors concentrated on geopolitical developments and responded to data indicating a contraction in the activity of the French manufacturing and services sectors. The benchmark CAC 40 declined by 30.89 points, reflecting a decrease of 0.38%, standing at 8,086.53 approximately thirty minutes after noon. The index, which fell to 8,084.52 in early trades, subsequently rose to 8,153.55 before exhibiting weakness once more.

• Pernod Ricard, Stellantis, Euronext, and Capgemini experienced increases ranging from 1.5% to 1.8%.
• STMicroelectronics, Sanofi, Publicis Groupe, Air Liquide, Renault, Saint Gobain, Safran, LVMH and Unibail Rodamco experienced an increase ranging from 1% to 1.4%.
• Thales, Eurofins Scientific, Michelin, Legrand, Credit Agricole, Schneider Electric, Credit Agricole, and Bureau Veritas experienced moderate gains.
• Eiffage experienced a decline of over 2%. Airbus experienced a decline of approximately 1.3%, whereas Societe Generale, Danone, and Orange saw reductions in the range of 0.6% to 0.8%.
• Flash survey data indicated that France’s private sector experienced its most significant contraction in five-and-a-half years during May.
• The flash composite output index declined to 43.5 in May, down from 47.6 in the previous month. This represented the lowest score recorded since November 2020 and remained below the forecast of 47.7.

The survey indicated a rapid deterioration in services activity, coinciding with a new decrease in manufacturing output. The services Purchasing Managers’ Index experienced an unexpected decline, falling to 42.9 in May from 46.5 in the preceding month. The score was recorded at 46.6. The manufacturing PMI registered at 48.9, a decline from the previous month’s figure of 52.8. The reading was anticipated to decline moderately to 52.1.