CAC 40 Modestly Higher As Stocks Pare Early Losses

(RTTNews) - French stocks recovered after a weak start on Tuesday with investors reacting to some corporate earnings updates and looking ahead to the monetary policy announcements from major central banks, including the Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank this week.

Oil prices edged higher after a weak start. Brent crude front-month futures rose to $111.91 from a low of $109.53, before dropping to $111.16, up nearly 0.4% from previous close.

The benchmark CAC 40, which dropped to 7,810.92, was up 29.34 points or 0.37% at 7,876.66 a little while ago.

STMicroelectronics moved up more than 3%. Schneider Electric gained 2.3% and ArcelorMittal advanced 2%, while Legrand climbed 1.9%.

EssilorLuxottica and Vinci gained 1.5% and 1.3%, respectively. BNP Paribas, Eiffage, Saint-Gobain, Publicis Groupe, Sanofi, Airbus, Bouygues, Credit Agricole, Thales, Capgemini, Safran, Accor and AXA gained 0.5%-1.2%.

Pernod Ricard dropped about 1.7%. Renault and TotalEnergies eased by a little over 1% from their previous closing levels. Engie shed nearly 1%.

Orange dropped more than 1% despite reporting higher third-quarter revenue and raising its 2026 core earnings growth target.

Carrefour, Kering, L'Oreal, Hermes International and Stellantis drifted modestly lower.

Survey results published by the statistical office INSEE showed French consumer confidence declined to its lowest level in more than 13 years in October amid bond selloffs and expanding protests.

The consumer confidence index fell to 80 in October from 85 in September. A similar lower score was last reported in June 2013. The reading was seen at 85.

Further, the survey showed fears about unemployment increased among households. Also, price concerns intensified among consumers. The proportion of households who consider that prices climbed over the past twelve months increased sharply with the index climbing eight points to 42. Meanwhile, the indicator for future inflation dropped to -7 from -9.