CAC 40 Rises Nearly 1% After Soft Eurozone Inflation Data

French stocks climbed higher on Wednesday, lifted by preliminary data showing consumer prices in Eurozone softening a bit in January.

Investors also looked ahead to the monetary policy announcement from the European Central Bank, due on Thursday. The EcB is widely expected to hold rates.

The Bank of England’s monetary policy announcement is also due on Thursday.

Flash estimate from Eurostat showed Eurozone inflation softened in January, with the haromoized index of consumer prices rising 1.7% on a yearly basis, following a 2% increase in December. The rate came in line with expectations.

Month-on-month, the HICP was down 0.5 % in January.

The benchmark CAC 40 was up 77.97 points or 0.95% at 8,257.47 about half an hour past noon.

Renault gained more than 3%. Air Liquide moved up nearly 3%, while Air Liquide and Orange gained 2.9% and 2.7%, respectively.

Michelin, Pernod Ricard, Stellantis, L’Oreal, TotalEnergies and Safran moved up 1.5%-2.3%.

Accor, Vinci, Engie, AXA, Saint Gobain, Danone, Airbus, Unibail Rodamco, Bureau Veritas, Schneider Electric, Eiffage and Hermes International advanced 1%-1.5%.

Publicis Groupe shed more than 4%, losing for a second straight day. Credit Agricole slid 3.1% after reporting a 39% fall in fourth-quarter profit.

Capgemini dropped by about 2.3% and ArcelorMittal eased by 1.25%, while BNP Paribas and Societe Generale posted modest losses.

Flash estimate from Eurostat showed Eurozone inflation softened in January, with the haromoized index of consumer prices rising 1.7% on a yearly basis, following a 2% increase in December. The rate came in line with expectations.

Month-on-month, the HICP was down 0.5 % in January.

Data from S&P Global showed the HCOB Flash Eurozone Composite PMI inched lower to 51.3 in January of 2026 from the 51.5 in the previous month, revised downwards from 51.5 and under the initial market expectations of 51.8.

The Services PMI came in at 51.6 for the month of January, down from 52.4 in December, while the manufacturing PMI score rose to 50.5 in January from 48.9 in December.

The HCOB France Composite PMI for January 2026 was revised higher to 49.1 from a flash estimate of 48.6, but remained below December’s 50.0.

The HCOB France Services PMI fell to 48.4 in January 2026, revised upward from the preliminary estimates of 47.9, compared with 50.1 in December.