Rising Oil Prices, Inflation Push CAC 40 To 4-Month Trough

(RTTNews) - France's equity benchmark CAC 40 fell to a four-month low Tuesday morning as rising oil prices and bond yields hurt sentiment. Data confirming an acceleration in France's inflation rate in the month of August weighed as well.

Brent crude futures rose to $108.43 before easing to $107.00 a barrel, still up nearly 1.3% over previous close. Oil prices moved up amid supply concerns after Saudi Arabia closed a critical pipeline that bypasses the Strait of Hormuz following a drone attack.

Additionally, a highly anticipated meeting in Oman between Iran and Gulf States was postponed at the last minute in the absence of conditions conducive to a constructive dialogue.

The CAC 40, which dropped to 8,033.04 earlier in the day, was down 14.03 points or 0.17% at 8,103.75 about an hour past noon.

Capgemini and Dassault Systemes both dropped by about 2.5%. LVMH shed 2.1%, while Publicis Groupe and Hermes International lost 1.7% and 1.6%, respectively.

L'Oreal, Pernod Ricard, Sanofi, Bureau Veritas, EssilorLuxottica, BNP Paribas and Socitete Generale drifted down 0.7%-1.4%.

Thales moved up 3.2%. Legrand and ArcelorMittal gained 1.4% and 1.3%, respectively. Schneider Electric, Eurofins Scientific, Carrefour, Safran, Unibail Rodamco, Renault and Airbus also moved higher.

Data released by INSEE showed the annual inflation rate in France accelerated to 2.4% in August, up from 2.1% in July and confirming preliminary estimates. This marked the highest reading in three months, driven mainly by a sharp acceleration in energy inflation to 16.7% from 12.6% in July, particularly for petroleum products. On a monthly basis, consumer prices rose 0.7% in August, following a 0.6% increase in July.

Meanwhile, the EU-harmonised annual inflation rate accelerated to 2.6% from 2.4%, while monthly HICP inflation rose to 0.7% from 0.6%.