CAC 40 Modestly Lower In Cautious Trade; Teleperformance Tanks 9%

(RTTNews) - French stocks are down in negative territory Friday morning amid concerns about growth following U.S. President Donald Trump's tariff moves on European countries, and confirmation that additional levies on Canadian and goods imported into the American will become effective from early March.

Investors are also digesting a slew of French earnings reports and economic data.

The benchmark CAC 40, which dropped to 8,031.48 earlier, was down 28.27 points or 0.35% at 8,074.25 a few minutes ago.

Teleperformance is tanking more than 9%. The call centre group's stock is down following a lower than expected guidance for 2025.

Kering, Schneider Electric and STMicroElectronics are down 1.2 to 1.4%. Sanofi, AXA, Publicis Groupe, BNP Paribas, Essilor, Societe Generale, Dassault Systemes and Thales are lower by 0.6 to 1%.

Saint Gobain is gaining more than 2.5%. The building materials firm reported full-year 2024 net income of 2.844 billion euros or 5.69 euros per share, up from 2.669 billion euros or 5.26 euros per share last year.

Recurring net income for the year was 3.474 billion euros or 6.95 euros per share, up from 3.416 billion euros or 6.73 per share last year.

Pernod Ricard is rising 2.3% and Stellantis is up by about 1.7%. L'Oreal, Eurofins Scientific and Air Liquide are modestly higher.

On the economic front, the annual inflation rate in France slowed to 0.8% in February, the lowest since February 2021, compared to 1.7% in January, data from INSEE showed.

The French economy contracted 0.1% in the fourth quarter, confirming preliminary estimates, and reversing a 0.4% expansion in the third quarter.

On an annual basis, the economy expanded 0.6%, slightly below the flash estimate of 0.7%, marking the slowest growth since the Q4 2020 contraction. For the full year, GDP grew 1.1%, matching 2023's pace.

Meanwhile, household spending in France dropped 0.5% month-on-month in January, after rising 0.7% in December. On a yearly basis, household spending increased by 0.4% in January.