French Stocks Mostly Subdued As Investors Assess Economic Data

(RTTNews) - French stocks were mostly subdued Friday morning with investors assessing the latest batch of economic data, including reports on inflation and GDP. Rising optimism about the Federal Reserve lowering its interest rates in December aided sentiment.

The benchmark CAC 40 was up 7.53 points or 0.09% at 8,107.00 nearly half an hour past noon.

Euronext gained more than 1%. Safran, LVMH, Stellantis, Bouygues, Bureau Veritas, Schneider Electric, ArcelorMittal, Orange, STMicroElectronics and BNP Paribas were up 0.5 to 0.8%.

EssilorLuxottica and Renault lost 1.2% and 0.9%, respectively. Accor, Danone, Vinci, Edenred and AXA were down 0.4 to 0.7%.

Data from statistical office INSEE showed France's economy expanded by 0.5% quarter-on-quarter in Q3 2025, accelerating from 0.3% in the previous quarter and confirming preliminary estimates. This marks the sharpest quarterly expansion since the second quarter of 2023. On an annual basis, GDP expanded 0.9%, up from 0.7% in Q2, marking the strongest growth in a year.

France's annual inflation rate held steady at 0.9% in November, unchanged from October and below the 1% forecast, according to preliminary estimates. On a monthly basis, the CPI fell by 0.1%, after a 0.1% rise in October.

Meanwhile, the EU-harmonised CPI rose 0.87% year-on-year, matching October's rate and remaining below the 1% forecast. It decreased by 0.2% from the previous month, following a 0.1% increase in October.

The Consumer Price Index in France decreased 0.1% month-over-month in November, following a 0.1% rise in October, another data from INSEE showed.

French domestic producer prices remained flat in October 2025, after a 0.1% month-on-month decline in the previous month. On an annual basis, producer prices declined by 0.8%, following a 0.1% rose in September.