BRUSSELS (dpa-AFX) - French stocks are down sharply on Tuesday, extending previous session's steep drop, amid ongoing political uncertainty in the country.
French Prime Minister Francois Bayrou announced the motion to seek backing for his 44 billion euro austerity package. The major opposition parties in the country have stated that they won't back the confidence vote on September 8, and this could result in a call for snap elections.
Investors are also reacting to a report showing France's consumer confidence weakened to the lowest level in August 2025 since October 2023 largely due to the weaker outlook for standard of living and the fall in saving intentions.
The benchmark CAC 40, which dropped to 7,668.08 earlier, was down 129.17 points or 1.65% at 7,713.87 a little while ago.
Societe Generale is plunging nearly 8%. Credit Agricole is down 5.8% and Vinci is down by about 5.7%.
AXA, BNP Paribas, Edenred, Thales and Teleperformance are down 4 to 5%. Accor, Bouygues, Saint-Gobain and TotalEnergies are declining 2 to 3%.
Orange, Carrefour, ArcelorMittal, Unibail Rodamco, Air Liquide, Publicis Groupe, Schneider Electric, Engie, Dassault Systemes, Vivendi and STMicroElectronics are also notably lower.
Among the gainers, Kering is up 1.2%. LVMH, Sanofi and Hermes International are up with modest gains.
A report from INSEE said that the French consumer sentiment index edged down to 87 in August from 88 in July. This was the lowest reading since October 2023 and remained below its long-term average of 100.
The survey showed that assessment regarding consumers' future personal financial situation deteriorated. After three months of stability, the index dropped to -16, which was the lowest since September 2023.
Meanwhile, the one related to their past personal financial situation gained one point to -21.
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