French stocks were subdued in cautious trade on Monday after Health Minister Olivier Veran warned France could be heading for a fourth wave of the pandemic due to the Delta variant.
While several top doctors and infectious diseases specialists predicted a possible spike in the virus in September, Véran said in a tweet on Sunday that a fourth wave might arrive well before then.
The benchmark CAC 40 index was marginally lower at 6,551 after finishing little changed with a negative bias on Friday.
Underlying sentiment remained supported somewhat after a survey showed business activity in the euro zone hit a 15-year high in June.
IHS Markit’s final composite purchasing managers’ index rose to 59.5 from 57.1 in May, hitting its best level since June 26 and coming in above the flash reading of 59.2.
Banks were broadly higher, with Societe Generale rising nearly 1 percent.
Automaker Renault dropped about half a percent.
Business News
CAC 40 Cuts Losses After PMI Data
2021-07-05 09:07:39
