BRUSSELS/FRANKFURT/PARIS (dpa-AFX) - French stocks were moving lower on Monday as regional countries brace for another wave of coronavirus infections and new restrictions ahead of Easter holiday break. A sharp sell-off in Turkish assets also weighed on markets.
The Turkish lira slumped toward a record low versus the dollar after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan fired the central bank governor over the weekend for hiking interest rates.
The benchmark CAC 40 index fell 36 points, or 0.6 percent, to 5,961 after declining 1.1 percent on Friday.
Veolia shares fell 1.5 percent. The company, which vows to pursue its hostile takeover of utility rival Suez SA, said Sunday that it will not sell or exchange its 29.9 percent stake in the capital of Suez. Shares of Suez rose about 1 percent.
Eurofins Scientific gained 2 percent. The testing laboratories company announced the launch of its GSD NovaType II, its upgraded RT-PCR kit for the identification of mutations associated with SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern.
Travel-stocks were lower, with airline Air France KLM falling more than 2 percent.
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