CAC 40 Pares Early Gains, Down Marginally

(RTTNews) - France's equity benchmark CAC 40 pared early gains and slipped slightly below the flat line Friday afternoon, despite weak oil prices and lower bond yields amid renewed hopes of a potential reopening of the Strait of Hormuz.

Brent crude futures front-month contract fell to a low of $104.51 a barrel before edging up to $105.24, down 1.4% from previous close.

According to reports, Washington Post has quoted Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi as saying on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly session in New York that Iran has submitted a proposal to U.S. officials through mediators this week to end the Middle East war.

Despite differences over Iran, Taiwan and trade, Trump described the meeting as "great" and hailed the "truly great friendship" he has forged with his counterpart. China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs described Xi's visit to the U.S. as a "great visit."

The benchmark CAC 40, which advanced to 8,136.29 earlier, was down 6.20 points or 0.08% at 8,075.23 nearly an hour past noon.

Societe Generale moved up 4%. ArcelorMittal climbed 2.3%, while STMicroelectronics, Accor, Schneider Electric, Legrand, Eiffage, Credit Agricole, Renault, BNP Paribas and Vinci gained 1.1%-2%.

Saint Gobain, Kering, Veolia Environment, Bouygues, Michelin, Carrefour, Stellantis, Safran and Bureau Veritas moved modestly higher.

Airbus dropped by about 2.7%. TotalEnergies shed 1.6%, hurt by weak oil prices. Thales and Sanofi lost 1.4% and 1%, respectively, while Pernod Ricard, Danone and Publicis Groupe posted moderate losses.

Data from INSEE showed private payroll employment in France fell 0.1% quarter-on-quarter, or 24,300 jobs, to 21 million in the second quarter of 2026, confirming preliminary estimates and following a revised flat reading in the previous period. Compared with a year earlier, private employment was down 0.4%, marking the sixth consecutive quarter of year-on-year decline, though it remained 5.1% (+1 million jobs) above its pre-pandemic level.