CAC 40 Pares Early Gains, Down Marginally

After moving higher in early trades thanks to some strong buying in financials and technology sectors, the French stock market pared gains and dropped into negative territory on Tuesday.

The market gained early on as easing geopolitical tensions, a recovery in the commodities markets, and data showing a smaller-than-expected increase in French inflation helped underpin sentiment.

Investors looked ahead to the European Central Bank’s monetary policy announcement, due on Thursday. The ECB is widely expected to leave rates unchanged. The focus will be on the bank’s views on growth, and for clues about future policy moves.

The benchmark CAC 40, which advanced to 8,234.50 earlier in the session, was down 13.94 points or 0.17% at 8,167.23 about half an hour past noon.

Credit Agricole gained 1.75%. Michelin moved up 1.5%, while Schneider Electric, ArcelorMittal, Danone, Eiffage, Engie and Safran gained 0.8%-1.2%.

Societe Generale, Danone, Vinci, Unibail Rodamco, Veolia Environment, Legrand, AXA, BNP Paribas and Thales posted moderate gains.

Publicis Groupe dropped 8.8% after the advertising group announced a profit for full year that dropped from last year. The company’s bottom line came in at EUR1.653 billion, or EUR6.52 per share. This compares with EUR1.660 billion, or EUR6.55 per share, last year.

Capgemini slid 5.6%. The company announced on Monday that it is putting up its US subsidiary up for sale after controversy over a $365 million contract with US immigration agency ICE to provide tools for identifying foreign nationals.

Dassault Systemes and Renault lost 3.3% and 3.2%, respectively. Bureau Veritas, STMicroElectronics, L’Oreal, Euronext, Stellantis, Accor and LVMH shed 1%-1.7%.

Data from INSEE showed France’s annual inflation rate slowed to 0.3% in January 2026, the lowest since late 2020, down from 0.8% in December and below expectations of 0.6%, according to preliminary estimates.

On a month-on-month basis, the CPI fell by 0.3%, reversing a 0.1% increase in December and exceeding expectations of a 0.1% decline. Considering the EU-harmonised CPI, prices rose 0.4% on the year and fell 0.4% on the month.