French Stocks Trade Flat
2026-03-24 08:54
By
Czyrill Jean Coloma
1 min. read
The CAC 40 traded flat at around 7,732 on Tuesday, following gains in the previous session as investors assessed conflicting signals of de-escalation from the prolonged Middle East tensions.
The White House said that plans for talks with Iran remain "fluid," cautioning that any speculation "should not be deemed final." US President Trump earlier announced a five-day delay to planned military strikes on Iranian power and energy infrastructure, citing "productive" conversations with Iran.
However, Tehran denied holding any discussions with Washington.
Domestically, flash estimates showed that the composite PMI fell to a five-month low of 48.3 in March 2026, driven by a further decline in the services PMI (48.3 vs 49.6 in February), despite the manufacturing PMI unexpectedly remaining just above the 50-threshold at 50.2.
Luxury stocks stood out, with LVMH, Hermès, and Kering adding 0.9%–1.5%.
Other notable gainers included TotalEnergies (1%), Air Liquides (0.8%), and Publicis (1.3%).