French stocks shed ground on Tuesday, extending recent decline, as mounting political tensions in the country, and rising oil prices hurt sentiment, forcing investors to tread cautiously. Concerns over AI-related valuations weighed as well. Mass protests throughout France last week over rising cost of living turned out extremely violent over the weekend with rioters indulging in looting and destroying government and private properties.
Brent crude prices moved sharply higher due to Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia infrastructure and reports of vessel attacks in the Gulf. Brent crude front-month futures climbed to $111.75 a barrel, gaining nearly 2% over previous closing level. The benchmark CAC 40 was down 47.84 points or 0.61% at 7,820.21 a little while ago.
- Schneider Electric, Legrand and STMicroelectronics shed 3%-3.1%. Eiffage and Societe Generale dropped 2.3% and 2.2%, respectively.
- Vinci, Safran, Bouygues, BNP Paribas, Saint-Gobain, Bureau Veritas, Airbus, Unibail Rodamco, Credit Agricole, Stellantis, Air Liquide, Dassault Systemes, Thales and Accor drifted lower by 1%-1.3%.
- Publicis Group eased by about 0.4%. The advertising and public relations Group said it had reached a deal with the Federal Trade Commission to address the concerns over its proposed acquisition of LiveRamp Holdings Inc.
- Sanofi climbed up 1.7%. TotalEnergies, Kering, Euronext, L’Oreal and Danone advanced 0.3%-0.7%.
Data released by the European Central Bank showed the eurozone current account surplus fell sharply to Euro7.7 billion in August, down from Euro18.1 billion a year earlier. The goods surplus declined to Euro10.5 billion, its lowest level since April 2023, while the primary income account swung to a Euro2.3 billion deficit from a Euro2.6 billion surplus.
