CAC 40 Extends Recent Gains; Bank Stocks Move Up

(RTTNews) - Despite ongoing tensions in the Middle East, the French stock market is up firmly in positive territory a little past noon on Wednesday, as oil prices dropped amid easing concerns about disruptions in supplies. Financial and luxury stocks are among the notable gainers.

Oil prices have dropped following Iran reaching an agreement to resume exports via Turkey. Additionally, Iraqi and Kurdish authorities agreed to resume oil exports through Turkey's Ceyhan port, offering some relief to investors worried about supply disruptions caused by the escalating U.S.-Israel war on Iran.

However, the mood remains somewhat cautious following confirmation from Iran's supreme national security council that their chief Ali Larijani has been killed, and due to continuing strikes in the Middle East.

Meanwhile, investors are looking ahead to the Federal Reserve's monetary policy announcement due later in the day. The European Central Bank (ECB) and the Bank of England (BoE) are scheduled to make their policy announcements tomorrow.

France's benchmark index CAC 40, which advanced to 8,066.62 earlier in the session, was up 69.02 points or 0.87% at 8,043.51 a little while ago.

Societe Generale is rising nearly 4.5%. BNP Paribas is up 2.5% and Credit Agricole is gaining about 2.3%.

Legrand is up by a little over 4%. Schneider Electric is advancing by 3%, while Saint Gobain, STMicroelectronics and Thales are up 2.5%, 2.3% and 2.1%, respectively.

Accor and Airbus are up nearly 2%. Safran, Hermes International, ArcelorMittal, Eurofins Scientific, Unibail Rodamco and Bouygues are gaining 1%-1.8%, while Renault, AXA, Capgemini, Bureau Veritas, Eiffage and TotalEnergies are up with modest gains.

Danone is down 2.3%. Publicis Groupe, Stellantis and Orange are down 1%-1.4%. Engie and Carrefour are declining by 0.9% and 0.7%, respectively.

In economic news, Eurozone inflation increased in February, as initially estimated, driven by faster service sector price growth and moderated energy cost decline, final data from Eurostat showed.

The harmonized index of consumer prices registered an annual increase of 1.9% after rising 1.7% in January. The rate came in line with the estimate published on March 3.

Core inflation that excludes energy, food, alcohol and tobacco increased to 2.4%, as estimated, from 2.2% a month ago.