European stock markets are clearly trending in the red. The CAC 40 falls by 1.17% to 8,131 points, while the Euro Stoxx 50 declines by 0.75% to 5,850 points. London and Frankfurt respectively drop by 0.75% and 0.54%.
Geopolitically, a sense of deadlock prevails. Donald Trump, after indefinitely extending the ceasefire between Washington and Tehran, announced yesterday an additional three-week truce between Israel and Lebanon.
In late morning trading, the price of Brent crude oil is up by 1.07% to $107.09.
Against this tense backdrop, French household confidence continues to deteriorate. Weakened by the war in the Middle East, it has reached its lowest level since the beginning of the conflict in Ukraine, according to INSEE. The indicator dropped by 5 points in April to 84, after a first decline to 89 the previous month, further moving away from its long-term average (100 between January 1987 and December 2025). This is its lowest level since May 2023.
In Germany, business confidence also declined more sharply than expected in April, amid persistent tensions related to the conflict in Iran, according to the monthly survey by the Ifo institute published on Friday. The index stands at 84.4, down from 86.3 in March (revised from an initial estimate of 88.6), while economists on average had anticipated 86.6. This is its lowest level since May 2020, during the peak of the pandemic.
Market participants will be watching the University of Michigan consumer confidence index at 4:00 pm.
Moving values:
The CAC 40 is led by Bureau Veritas (1.99%) and TotalEnergies (1.44%), while Renault (-3.24%) holds the penultimate place in the Paris stock exchange flagship index. The automaker is heading towards a fifth consecutive session of decline. Forvia (-4.78%) and Valeo (-4.60%) are also under pressure after recording a decline in their first-quarter activity.
Furthermore, Spie (7.13%) shines at the top of the SBF 120 index, with the specialist in electrical and mechanical engineering reporting a less pronounced production decline than anticipated. Spie is followed by Seb (5.48%), which announced a 42% increase in operational activity results to 72 million euros. In the Stockholm Stock Exchange, Electrolux (-23%) is heavily penalized after a disappointing quarter.
In the foreign exchange market, the euro slightly advances by 0.02% against the dollar, to 1.1686 USD.
