CAC 40 Rises On Rate Cut Hopes

(RTTNews) - French stocks advanced on Thursday as soft eurozone inflation data for March booted hopes for an ECB rate cut in June.

?Talking about the June meeting, I think the probability is increasing that we will see a rate cut in June but there are still some caveats," the chief of Germany's Bundesbank told CNBC's Karen Tso at the IMF Spring Meetings on Wednesday.

Geopolitical risk is the biggest threat to a prospective rate cut from the European Central Bank, according to ECB policymaker Robert Holzmann.

The benchmark CAC 40 was up 46 points, or 0.6 percent, at 8,028 after rising 0.6 percent in the previous session.

Danone advanced 1.5 percent. The maker of Activia yoghurt, Evian water and Aptamil backed its FY24 outlook after posting stronger-than-expected quarterly sales.

Automaker Renault rose 0.6 percent despite industry data showing that new car sales in the EU decreased for the first time in three months in March amid weaker demand among four major markets.

New car registrations dropped 5.2 percent year-over-year to 1.0 million units in March, reversing a 10.1 percent surge in February - according to monthly data from the European Automobile Manufacturers' Association.