CAC 40 Drifts Lower On Trade War Concerns; Thales Rises Sharply On Results

(RTTNews) - French stocks are down firmly in negative territory Tuesday morning, with new U.S. tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China, and U.S. President Donald Trump's threat that he will impose reciprocal tariffs from early April, hurting sentiment.

In retaliation, Canada announced 25% tariffs on $107 billion worth of U.S. goods, with $20.7 billion in immediate effect. Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said her country is preparing countermeasures.

China has announced 15% tariffs on U.S. chicken, wheat, corn and cotton, plus 10% cent tariffs on soybeans, pork, beef and dairy beginning March 10.

U.S. President Donald Trump reiterated that he will impose reciprocal duties with effect from April 2, and the first target will be a levy on agricultural products.

The benchmark CAC 40 was down 110.44 points or 1.34% at 8,089.27 a few minutes ago.

Stellantis is declining 6.5%. ArcelorMittal, STMicroElectronics and Renault are down 4.7%, 4.4% and 4.3%, respectively.

Kering, TotalEnergies, BNP Paribas, Saint Gobain, Legrand, Societe Generale, Schneider Electric, LVMH, Teleperformance, Accor, Vivendi, Credit Agricole, Publicis Groupe and Michelin are down 2 to 3.7%.

Thales is soaring 9% after reporting adjusted net income of 1.90 billion euros for fiscal 2024, compared to 1.77 billion euros a year ago. Further, the company proposed a dividend, and issued fiscal 2025 outlook, expecting growth in margin and sales.

Looking ahead, for fiscal 2025, the company projects organic sales growth of between 5% and 6%, corresponding to sales between 21.7 billion euros and 21.9 billion euros. Adjusted EBIT margin is expected between 12.2% and 12.4%.

Danone is gaining about 2.5%, while Veolia Environment, Eurofins Scientific, Sanofi, Safran and Engie are up 0.5 to 1.1%. Dassault Systemes is up marginally.

On the economic front, data from Eurostat said the unemployment rate in the euro area remained flat at 6.2% in January.