CAC 40 Up 0.6%; STMicroElectronics Rises Sharply

(RTTNews) - Despite data showing a contraction in France's private sector activity in the month of September, French stocks are up firmly in positive territory Tuesday afternoon with data showing an acceleration in Eurozone private sector growth, and NVIDIA's plans to invest $100 billion in OpenAI aiding sentiment.

NVIDIA has announced that is plans to invest up to $100 billion in OpenAI to build next-generation AI data centers.

The benchmark CAC 40 was up 47.05 points or 0.6% at 7,877.16 a few minutes ago.

STMicroElectronics is rising by about 3.2%. Stellantis is up 2.6%, while LVMH and Capgemini are gaining 2.2% and 2.1%, respectively.

Edenred and Kering are up nearly 2%. Saint Gobain, ArcelorMittal, Michelin, Accor, Hermes International, Schneider Electric, Renault, Carrefour, Safran, TotalEnergies and Pernod Ricard are up 1 to 1.7%.

EssilorLuxottica is down by about 1.1%. Sanofi, Societe Generale, Eurofins Scientific, AXA and Euronext are down 0.3 to 0.7%.

France's private sector showed fresh signs of weakness in September as output dropped at faster rates in both manufacturing and services, flash survey data from S&P Global revealed on Tuesday.

The HCOB composite output index fell unexpectedly to 48.4 from 49.8 in the previous month. The reading was forecast to rise to 49.9.

The score remained below the neutral 50.0 mark for a thirteenth straight month. Moreover, the reading signaled the biggest contraction since April.

There were renewed weakness in both manufacturing and services. The services Purchasing Managers' Index posted 48.9, down from 49.8 in August. The score was seen at 49.7.

Likewise, the manufacturing PMI slid more-than-expected to 48.1 in September from 50.4 a month ago. The score was expected to fall to 50.2.

The HCOB Flash Eurozone Composite Purchasing Managers' Index, compiled by S&P Global, edged up to 51.2 in September from 51.0 in August, marking the ninth consecutive month of growth but new orders stagnated after briefly expanding in August.

While the services sector pulled up business activity, the manufacturing sector slumped back into contraction, clouding the outlook.