CAC 40 Turns Weak After Slightly Positive Start

(RTTNews) - French stocks showed weakness Monday morning in thin deals as traders continued to stay away on the sideline. A lack of significant data or stock specific news rendered the mood cautious.

Defense stocks dropped amid signs of progress in Ukraine peace deal. U.S. President Donald Trump said a Ukraine peace deal is "getting a lot closer" although territorial issues remain unsolved.

The market will have a short session on Wednesday and remain closed on Thursday for New Year's Day.

The CAC 40 was down 13.40 points or 0.17% at 8,090.18 a few minutes ago, coming off an early high of 8,128.10.

Thales drifted down by about 1.7%. Safran lost 1.6%, while AXA, Legrand, Airbus Group, Pernod Ricared, Renault and Kering shed 0.5 to 0.9%.

Eurofins Scientific, L'Oreal, Danone, Stellantis and Eifage were modestly lower a little while ago.

ArcelorMittal climbed about 1%. Saint Gobain, Michelin, Publicis Groupe, Sanofi, TotalEnergies, Societe Generale, Accor, STMicroElectronics and Veolia Environment gained 0.4 to 0.9%.

The yield on France's 10 year government bond dropped to 3.542% earlier this morning, but edged up to 3.557% subsequently.