CAC 40 Up Over 2% As Stocks Climb Higher On Slightly Easing Tariff Concerns

(RTTNews) - French stocks are holding firm on Monday after a bright start, with investors indulging in some hectic buying across the board, reacting to U.S. President Donald Trump's announcement on Friday that smartphones, computers, and other devices and components such as semiconductors, will be exempted from reciprocal tariffs for now.

However, there is still some uncertainty about Trump's moves, as commerce secretary Howard Lutnick later clarified that these exemptions are not permanent. Trump later said on Truth Social that they are still subject to the existing 20% Fentanyl tariffs, but just moving to another bracket.

The focus is also on trade talks between the U.S. and the European Union. EU Trade Commissioner Maros Sefcovic is reportedly set to meet with U.S. officials.

The benchmark CAC 40, which climbed to 7,275.26 earlier, was up 147.31 points or 2.07% at 7,252.11 a few minutes ago.

Edenred is gaining nearly 4.5%. Eurofins Scientific, Stellantis, BNP Paribas, TotalEnergies and Capgemini are up 3.2 to 4%.

Societe Generale, AXA, Pernod Ricard, Airbus, Dassault Systemes, Renault, Unibail Rodamco, Saint Gobain, ArcelorMittal, Thales, Essilor, Accor, Carrefour, Publicis Groupe, STMicroElectronics, Sanofi and Credit Agricole are advancing 2 to 3%.

Schneider Electric, Bouygues, Teleperfrmance, Safran, Vinci, Bureau Veritas, Orange, Legrand, Hermes International, Michelin, Air Liquide and L'Oreal are up 1 to 1.8%.

The announcement by the US Customs and Border Protection over the weekened that new exemptions from tariffs on various tech products, including smartphones, laptops, and other electronics means that selected electronic items will be excluded from the current 145% tariffs on China, as well as the 10% baseline tariffs.

The U.S. President has said that he would announce the tariff rate on imported semiconductors within the next week.