CAC 40 Drifts Lower As Investors Digest Economic Data, Await Tariff Moves

(RTTNews) - French stocks are exhibiting weakness on Tuesday amid uncertainty about trade negotiations between the U.S. and major nations in Europe and elsewhere ahead of the July 9 deadline for reciprocal tariffs. Investors are also digesting the region economic data, including reports on eurozone inflation and French manufacturing PMI reading.

The benchmark CAC was down 35.73 points or 0.47% at 7,630.18 a little while ago.

Thales is down by about 2.7%. ArcelorMittal is declining 2.1%, while Airbus, Safran, STMicroElectronics and Saint Gobain are down 1.6 to 2%.

Publicis Groupe, BNP Paribas, Michelin, Legrand, Stellantis and Schneider Electric are also notably lower.

Among the gainers, LVMH is rising 3.5% and Kering is up nearly 3.5%. Orange, Carrefour, Pernod Ricard, Danone, Renault and L'Oreal are up 0.7 to 1.3%.

Euro area consumer inflation expectations for the short and medium term eased in May as uncertainty over the economic outlook decreased, monthly survey data from the European Central Bank showed.

Median expectations for inflation over the next 12 months fell 0.3 percentage points to 2.8% and the outlook for three years ahead eased by 0.1 percentage points to 2.4%, the monthly ECB Consumer Expectations Survey revealed.

Meanwhile, expectations for inflation over the next five years were unchanged at 2.1% for the sixth month in a row, the ECB said.

Data from Eurostat showed that according to flash estimate, Eurozone inflation rose slightly in June on services costs. Annual inflation climbed to 2% in June from 1.9% in May and also matched expectations.

Core inflation that excludes energy and food held steady at 2.3% in June, as expected. Month-on-month, the HICP gained 0.3%. Final data is due on July 17.

Data from S&P Global showed that the HCOB France Manufacturing PMI dropped to 48.1 in June 2025 from 49.8 in May, but revised above initial estimates of 47.8. This marked the steepest contraction in four months.