CAC 40 Holds Steady Ahead Of Eurozone Retail Sales Data

French stocks were largely steady on Tuesday ahead of the release of Eurozone retail sales data later in the day.

Sales are forecast to drop 0.1 percent month-on-month in June, offsetting the 0.1 percent rise in May.

Underlying sentiment was helped by favorable leads from Asian stock markets and encouraging U.S. service sector activity data released overnight.

The dollar edged up slightly while U.S. Treasury yields fell ahead of the auction of $58 billion of three-year notes later in the session.

The benchmark CAC 40 was marginally higher at 7,153 after losing 1.4 percent in the previous session on heightened Middle East tensions, an unwinding of yen carry trades, lukewarm tech earnings, and concerns about slowing U.S. economic growth.

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