CAC 40 Modestly Higher

(RTTNews) - The French stock market is modestly higher Tuesday afternoon with investors mostly reacting to earnings updates and a mixed batch of regional economic data. Expectations of a rate cut by the Federal Reserve sometime soon aid sentiment a bit.

The benchmark CAC 40 was up 20.49 points or 0.27% at 7,652.50 a little while ago.

Saint Gobain, Airbus, AXA, Safran, Societe Generale and TotalEnergies are up 1.3 to 2%.

Capgemini, Thales, ArcelorMittal, Sanofi, Eurofins Scientific, Bouygues, Edenred, Unibail Rodamco, Vinci and Engie are gaining 0.5 to 1.1%.

Vivendi is down 3.4%. L'Oreal is declining nearly 2.5% and LVMH is down by about 2.1%. Kering is down 1%.

Data from INSEE showed industrial production in France surged by 3.8% month-over-month in June 2025, rebounding from an upwardly revised 0.7% decline in May and far exceeding market expectations of a 0.8% increase. This marked the strongest monthly growth in industrial activity since July 2020.

On a yearly basis, industrial output fell 0.4% in June. For the second quarter, industrial activity declined by 0.1% compared to the previous quarter.

Data from S&P Global said the HCOB France Composite PMI for July was revised down to 48.6, significantly below the flash estimate of 49.6 and June's 49.2. The reading marks the 11th straight month of downturn, driven by declines in both manufacturing (PMI at 48.2 vs 48.1) and services (48.5 vs 49.6).

Business activity in the euro zone grew at a slightly faster pace in July than in June, a survey showed.

The HCOB Eurozone Composite Purchasing Managers' Index, compiled by S&P Global, rose to 50.9 from 50.6 in June - coming in below a preliminary estimate of 51.0.

Separately, Eurostat said that Eurozone producer prices rose 0.8% in June compared to May.