CAC 40 Recovers After Early Setback, But Remains Weak

(RTTNews) - After an early setback that resulted in the benchmark CAC 40 losing over 100 points, the French market recovered and briefly moved above the flat line on Friday.

Concerns about high tech valuations have resurfaced despite US chipmaker Nvidia's strong earnings and update. Uncertainty about Federal Reserve's interest rate move in December also hurt the market early on. However, flash estimates showing an expansion in French services sector activity aid sentiment.

The CAC 40, which tumbled to 7,875.87 at the start, climbed to 7,982.08 before drifting down to 7,958.92 a few minutes ago, down 22.10 points or 0.28% from previous close.

Pernod Ricard is rising 3.75%, and Euronext is gaining 3.5%. L'Oreal is up nearly 2%, while Capgemini, Kering, Stellantis and Vinci are up 1.3 to 2%.

Dassault Systemes, Publicis Groupe, Hermes International, Orange, Edenred, Danone and AXA are gaining 1 to 1.25%.

ArcelorMittal, Thales and Legrand are down 2 to 2.25%. Schneider Electric, Societe Generale, Safran, EssilorLuxottica and STMicroElectronics are also notably lower.

France's private sector economy broadly stabilized in November driven by a fresh rise in services activity, flash survey results from S&P Global revealed.

The HCOB composite output index rose more-than-expected to a 15-month high of 49.9 in November from 47.7 in October. The reading was seen at 48.1.

The service sector registered its first expansion in activity in 15 months, with the PMI score coming in a t 50.8 in November, up from 48.0 a month earlier. Meanwhile, the factory PMI dropped unexpectedly to 47.8 from 48.8 in the prior month. The score was forecast to rise to 49.0.

Data from the statistical office INSEE showed French manufacturing confidence weakened in November after strengthening in the previous month.

The manufacturing confidence index dropped to 98.0 in November from 100.9 in October, which was the highest since March 2024. The reading was forecast to drop to 100.