BRUSSELS/FRANKFURT/PARIS (dpa-AFX) - French stocks recovered from an early slide on Monday as reports suggested that EU leaders were making progress on a coronavirus rescue plan after three days of haggling.
The main division is between countries hit hardest by the virus and some EU members seeking to limit the size of the fund and stricter controls on its use.
Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte has admitted leaders were 'close to failure' and talks could still 'fall apart'.
The benchmark CAC 40 was marginally higher at 5,072, reversing early losses.
Shares of Renault rose 0.8 percent despite the automaker reporting a 34.9 percent drop in worldwide sales in the first half of the year. The company said it had seen some signs of recovery in June.
In economic releases, the euro area current account surplus declined in May largely reflecting the widening deficit on the secondary income, data from the European Central Bank showed.
The current account surplus fell to EUR 8 billion in May from EUR 14 billion in April. In the same period last year, the surplus was EUR 23 billion.
The trade surplus rose to EUR 17 billion from EUR 13 billion in April. Meanwhile, the surplus on services fell to EUR 4 billion from EUR 5 billion.
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX