French stocks are experiencing limited movement in cautious trading this Wednesday morning, amidst continued uncertainty regarding the trade policies of the Trump administration. Concerns persist that the ongoing trade tensions between the United States and China, the world’s second-largest economy, may significantly impede global economic growth and negatively impact corporate earnings.
The CAC 40 index recently dropped by 22.85 points, or 0.29%, to 7,883.55. Renault's shares have fallen by over 2.5%, while Vivendi, STMicroelectronics, Pernod Ricard, and Michelin are seeing declines ranging from 1.5% to 1.8%.
Other notable declines include BNP Paribas, Legrand, LVMH, L'Oreal, Stellantis, Schneider Electric, Edenred, Thales, Veolia Environment, and Bouygues, all decreasing between 0.5% and 1%.
In contrast, TotalEnergies has risen by 1.1%, having increased its dividend and maintained the momentum of its share buyback program, despite reporting a decline in fourth-quarter earnings.
Credit Agricole has experienced a 1.5% increase following better-than-anticipated earnings results, driven by higher revenues in the closing quarter of 2024.
Publicis Groupe stands out with a 2.3% gain, along with a 1.1% rise in ArcelorMittal, and Unibail Rodamco advancing by 0.75%.
In other economic developments, the HCOB France Composite PMI for January 2025 was revised downward to 47.6 from the initial estimate of 48.3, slightly above December's figure of 47.5. This represents the fifth consecutive month of declining output.
The downturn in economic activity during January was attributed to both the manufacturing and services sectors, though the manufacturing sector's decline was at a slower rate. The manufacturing PMI reached 45 in January, up from 41.9 in December 2024. Meanwhile, the services PMI registered at 48.2 for January, down from 49.3 in December.
France's industrial production dipped by 0.4% month-on-month in December 2024, following a revised 0.1% increase in November. This decrease was led by a 0.7% contraction in manufacturing output.
In the Eurozone, the HCOB Composite PMI rose to 50.2 in January 2025 from 49.6 in the previous month, matching preliminary estimates and surpassing expectations of 49.7.
The services sector PMI recorded 51.3 in January, down from 51.6 in December 2024, while the manufacturing sector’s PMI score was 46.6, an increase from 45.1 in December.
