France’s equity benchmark CAC 40 experienced a significant decline on Friday morning, driven by increasing apprehensions that the Democratic Party’s substantial victories in the US midterm elections may lead to stricter regulations on the AI sector and a deceleration in the growth of data centers.
The CAC 40 experienced a decline of 131.23 points, reflecting a decrease of 1.6%, settling at 8,074.14 approximately thirty minutes prior to noon.
- Capgemini, Kering, LVMH, Publicis Groupe, Sanofi, Bouygues, Hermes International, L’Oreal, and Safran experienced declines ranging from 2.2% to 3.3%.
- Danone, Bureau Veritas, Eurofins Scientific, Orange, Pernod Ricard, AXA, EssilorLuxottica, Air Liquide, Saint-Gobain, Thales, and Euronext experienced declines ranging from 1.3% to 2%.
- STMicroelectronics experienced an increase of 2.3%.
- Legrand and ArcelorMittal experienced increases of 1.8% and 1.7%, respectively. BNP Paribas and Stellantis recorded slight increases.
On the economic front, France’s trade deficit expanded to €7.3 billion in September, an increase from a revised €6.0 billion in August, significantly surpassing expectations of €5.8 billion. Imports increased by 4.0% month-on-month, reaching €62.7 billion, whereas exports experienced a more modest rise of 2.0%, totalling €55.3 billion.
