BRUSSELS/FRANKFURT/PARIS (dpa-AFX) - French shares were slightly lower on Wednesday as falling bond yields pulled down banking stocks and rising geopolitical tensions between Riyadh and Tehran kept investors on tenterhooks.
The benchmark CAC 40 was down about 0.1 percent at 5,476 in late opening deals after declining half a percent in the previous session.
Credit Agricole shares fell 4.2 percent after the lender reported a double-digit fall in third-quarter net profit, hit by weak trading conditions.
BNP Paribas and Societe Generale were marginally lower on concerns that U.S. tax reforms plans could be delayed.
Investment bank Natixis advanced 1.8 percent after its quarterly profit came ahead of estimates.
Video game publisher Ubisoft Entertainment soared nearly 8 percent after the company beat its second-quarter sales target.
On a light day on the economic front, data from the customs office showed that France's trade deficit widened to 4.67 billion euros in September from 4.2 billion euros in August. The expected level was 4.68 billion euros.
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX