CAC Rises For 3rd Straight Session

(RTTNews) - French stocks are gaining ground in positive territory on Thursday, rising for the third consecutive session, amid hopes of an interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve next month, and expectations that the upcoming meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin will help end the war in Ukraine.

The benchmark CAC 40 was up 27.13 points or 0.35% at 7,832.10 a little while ago.

Thales is gaining 1.7%. ArcelorMittal and Airbus, both are gaining nearly 1.5%. Veolia, Safran, BNP Paribas, Stellantis, Bouygues, Saint-Gobain, Air Liquide and Societe Generale are up 0.7 to 1.2%.

Vinci, Legrand, STMicroElectronics, L'Oreal, Schneider Electric, EssilorLuxottica and Eurofins Scientific are up with modest gains.

Kering is down by about 1.8% and LVMH is lower by about 1.3%. Carrefor and Hermes International are down with moderate losses.

Data from Statistical Office INSEE said France's annual inflation rate stood at 1% in July, unchanged from June and in line with preliminary estimates. On a monthly basis, consumer prices rose 0.2% in July, following a 0.4% gain in June, also consistent with preliminary data.

Meanwhile, the annual harmonized inflation rate stood at 0.9%, unchanged from June, while monthly HICP rose 0.3%, slightly easing from 0.4% in June—both confirming flash estimates.

The Eurozone economy grew 0.1% quarter-on-quarter in the second quarter of 2025, its weakest performance since Q4 2023, slowing from 0.6% in Q1 and matching the first estimate. Year-on-year, Eurozone GDP rose 1.4%, just below 1.5% in Q1 and in line with the advance estimates.

Euro Area industrial production fell by 1.3% month-over-month in June, reversing from a 1.1% rise in May. On an annual basis, industrial output growth eased to 0.2% in June from 3.1% in May, below forecasts of a 1.7% increase.

A separate data from Eurostat said the number of employed persons in the Euro Area rose by 0.1% from the previous quarter to 171.695 million in the second quarter of 2025, slowing slightly from the 0.2% increase in the previous period and in line with market expectations. It was the 17th consecutive period of growth in employment in the currency bloc.