CAC 40 Rises Over 0.5% On Soft Inflation Data; Thales Up Nearly 5%

(RTTNews) - France's equity index CAC 40 is up in positive territory on Wednesday, extending gains from the previous session, as investors continue to follow the developments on the geopolitical front, and tracking a fresh batch of quarterly earnings updates.

Data showing a drop in the nation's consumer price inflation is aiding sentiment. Defense stocks gained, supported by an agreement between India and France to strengthen defense and aerospace ties.

The CAC 40, which advanced to 8,416.05, was up 44.05 points or 0.53% at 8,405.51 a few minutes ago.

Thales is up 4.8%. STMicroelectronics is gaining about 3.2%, while ArcelorMittal and Schneider Electric are up 3% and 2.7%, respectively.

Societe Generale, Safran and BNP Paribas are up 2.15%-2.3%. Airbus, TotalEnergies, Credit Agricole, Engie and Bouygues are gaining 1.2%-1.5%.

Eurofins Scientific, Veolia Environment, Eiffage, Vinci, Stellantis, Kering and Unibail Rodamco are also up with notable gains.

Shares of food retailer Carrefour are down more than 5% after the company reported a decline in operating profit in 2025 due to acquisition costs.

Pernod Ricard is down by about 4.2%, while EssilorLuxottica is declining by nearly 4%.

Capgemini is drifting lower by 2.7%, while Hermes International, Air Liquide, Saint Gobain and Euronext are down 1%-1.6%.

Final data from the statistical office INSEE revealed France's inflation eased to the lowest in five years in January and remained well below the European Central Bank's target of 2%.

The consumer price index rose only 0.3% on a yearly basis in January, following the 0.8% increase seen in December, the data showed. This was the weakest rate since December 2020, when prices remained flat.

Similarly, EU harmonized inflation softened to 0.4%, as estimated, from 0.7% in December. The harmonized rate was also the weakest since December 2020.

At the same time, core inflation hit 0.7% in January, down from 1.1% in the previous month. This was the weakest since July 2021.

On a monthly basis, consumer prices dropped 0.3% after a 0.1% rise. Likewise, the harmonized index of consumer prices slid 0.4% following last month's 0.1% gain. Both the CPI and HICP rates matched the flash estimates published earlier.