Europe close: Stocks end off lows as oil falls but French markets underperform
European shares ended off lows on Tuesday as oil prices fell, but French markets underperformed amid political volatility.
The pan-regional Stoxx 600 index and Germany’s DAX ended down 0.1% at 638.64 and 25,304.42, respectively, while France’s CAC 40 fell 0.4% to 7,838.49, underperforming amid worries about the latest civil unrest.
French authorities imposed curfews in Paris, Marseille and Lille and promised financial support for affected businesses after cost-of-living protests over the weekend escalated into violence, vandalism, and looting.
The country's ability to boost spending remains constrained by one of the largest debt burdens and budget deficits in the eurozone, limiting the government's scope to quell public discontent.
Fuelled by rising living costs and a perceived decline in public services, the protests have dented investor confidence in an economy already struggling with weak growth and mounting debt. The unrest has also raised concerns that the far-right National Front could emerge as a leading force ahead of the 2027 presidential election in the eurozone's second-largest economy.
In commodity markets, oil prices fell, with Brent crude down 0.8% at $108.65 a barrel and West Texas Intermediate off 0.7% at $102.96 following a report that Qatari and Pakistani officials have submitted a new peace proposal to Iran and the US that has received positive responses from both.
On the equities front, shares in ABB slid 5% despite the Swiss engineer reporting record quarterly orders driven by the boom in spending on AI data centres used to power artificial intelligence.
French electrical equipment maker Schneider Electric slumped after it raised €6bn in an accelerated bookbuild to help fund the acquisition of PTC.
French cloud operator OVHcloud surged 18% after it posted its first positive levered free cash flow since listing in 2021.