CAC 40 Down More Than 1% As Trade War Concerns Hurt Sentiment

(RTTNews) - French stocks are notably lower on Friday, weighed down by losses in automobile and luxury sectors. The mood in the market is a bit bearish, in line with other major markets in Europe, amid renewed worries about tariffs.

The U.S. President Donald Trump announced a 35% tariff on Canadian imports, starting Aug. 1, in a dramatic escalation of a trade war with the United States' closest ally over the country's alleged role in fentanyl flows.

Trump also talked about blanket tariffs of 15% to 20% on most of America's trading partners and announced plans to make a 'major statement' on Russia, denting investors' appetite for riskier assets.

Investors also waited for a word on tariffs for the European Union. The U.S. currently imposes 50% tariffs on EU steel and aluminum, 25% on cars and 10% ib all EU imports.

The benchmark CAC 40 was down 80.22 points or 1.02% at 7,822.03 a little while ago.

Stellantis and Kering are down 3.7% and 3.6%, respectively. LVMH, STMicroElectronics, Teleperformane, Capgemini, Hermes International and EssilorExottica are declining 2 to 2.5%.

Societe Generale, Edenred, BNP Paribas, Saint Gobain, Publicis Groupe, Credit Agricole, Unibail Rodamco, Renault, ArcelorMittal and Pernod Ricard are also notably lower.

Thales is rising 1.5% and Engie is gaining about 0.7%, while Orange and Safran are up marginally.

Final data from the statistical office INSEE showed France's consumer price inflation increased in June, at a faster than previously estimated pace.

Consumer price inflation increased to 1% in June from 0.7% in May. June's inflation was revised up from 0.9%. Similarly, EU harmonized inflation was revised to 0.9% from 0.8%.

Month-on-month, the France's consumer price index climbed by revised 0.4%, reversing a 0.1% drop in May. The flash estimate showed a 0.3% rise in consumer prices.

The harmonized index of consumer prices gained an unrevised 0.4%, in contrast to the 0.2% fall in May.