CAC 40 Modestly Higher After Inflation Data

(RTTNews) - French stocks are up in positive territory Friday morning, as investors continue to cheer the European Central Bank's rate cut decision and the dovish remarks suggesting the possibility of more monetary easing in the coming months.

Investors are also digesting the data on French consumer price inflation and producer prices data.

The benchmark CAC 40, which advanced to 7,986.37 earlier in the session, was up 21.41 points or 0.27% at 7963.05 a little while ago.

A report from the statistical office INSEE said France's annual inflation rate edged up to 1.4% in January 2025 from 1.3% in December, according to preliminary estimates. This marks the fourth consecutive month of increase in the nation's inflation. Inflation was expected to come in at 1.5% in January.

The CPI decreased 0.1% in January 2025, after rising 0.2% in December.

The EU-harmonised CPI in France dropped by 0.2% month-over-month in January 2025, compared to a stagnant market estimate and reversing from a 0.2% rise in the previous month, preliminary estimates showed.

Meanwhile, producer prices in France rose 1% month-over-month in December 2024, slowing from an upwardly revised 3.7% increase in the previous period. On a yearly basis, producer prices fell 3.8% in December, following a 4.7% decline in the prior month.

Schneider Electric is rising 1.7%. Vivendi, Engie and Dassault Systemes are gaining 1 to 1.3%.

Sanofi, Safran, Airbus Group, Legrand, Thales, Hermes International, TotalEnergies, Societe Generale, Perond Ricard, Essilor, Capgemini and Unibail Rodamco are up with modest gains.

STMicroElectronics is down more than 9%, extending losses from the previous session, as weak earnings updates continue to prompt investors to trim down positions at the counter. The company reported a net income of $341 million for the fourth-quarter, compared to $1.076 billion in the year-ago quarter. The earnings per share also decreased to $0.37 compared with $1.14 in the prior year.

The net revenue dropped to $3.32 billion from $4.28 billion last year's quarter, the company said, adding that its expects first-quarter net revenue to decline 24.4% sequentially to $2.51 billion.

Edenred is declining 1.4% and Carrefour is down 0.9%. L'Oreal, Credit Agricole, Stellantis and LVMH are down 0.4 to 0.6%.