CAC 40 Slips On Weak Services PMI Data

(RTTNews) - French stocks showed weakness on Wednesday, driven largely by losses in the luxury sector and data showing continued contraction in business activity. Worries about geopolitical tensions hurt as well, while lower bond yields supported sentiment.

The benchmark CAC 40 was down 26.36 points or 0.32% at 8,254.27 nearly an hour past noon.

Luxury stocks Hermes International, Kering and LVMH dropped 3.1%, 2.7% and 2.4%, respectively.

EssilorLuxottica shed about 2.3%, while L'Oreal, Engie, Thales and Airbus drifted lower by 1.1%-1.7%. Unibail Rodamco, Accor, Danone, Pernod Ricard, Sanofi, Michelin and Saint-Gobain lost 0.3%-1%.

Publicis Groupe climbed 3.25%. Legrand and Capgemini moved up 2.5% and 2.2%, respectively, with the former rising on a rating upgrade from Deutsche Bank. Dassault Systemes, AXA, ArcelorMittal, Credit Agricole, Societe Generale and Eurofins Scientific gained 1%-1.3%.

The euro area private sector posted robust growth in August as the industrial economy gained momentum and services activity expanded for a second consecutive month, final survey data from S&P Global showed. However, France bucked the broad trend of growth, registering an eighth successive contraction in business activity.

The final composite output index posted 52.0 in August, unchanged from July's eight-month high and slightly down from the flash score of 52.1.

The services Purchasing Managers' Index dropped to a two-month low of 51.6 from 51.7 in July. The flash score was also 51.7.

The HCOB France Composite PMI for August 2026 was revised down to 48.5 from a flash estimate of 48.8, and below July's 49.4. The data confirmed an eighth consecutive month of contraction, with the pace of decline quickening from July. The downturn remained entirely concentrated in services, as manufacturing output posted a marginal increase in August.

The S&P Global France Services PMI fell to 48.0 in August 2026, revising lower than the preliminary estimate of 48.4 and marking a sharper contraction than 49.6 in the previous month.

Eurozone producer price inflation accelerated in July, largely reflecting the surge in energy prices, Eurostat reported Thursday. Producer prices increased 5.8 percent in July after climbing 4.6 percent in June and 5.9 percent in May.