BRUSSELS/FRANKFURT/PARIS (dpa-AFX) - French stocks fell sharply on Thursday as several European countries tightened restrictions to try to stall a surging second wave of coronavirus and EU leaders prepared to meet in Brussels to hold their first detailed discussions on Brexit this year.
The European Commission warned today that EU governments were unprepared for the new surge of Covid-19 infections and urged states to adopt a common strategy for the new phase of the pandemic.
'While the evolution of the pandemic is getting back to March levels, our state of preparedness is not,' the EU executive's vice-president Margaritis Schinas said.
French President Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday ordered a nighttime curfew for Paris and eight other cities to contain the spread of Covid-19 after daily new infection rates reached alarming record levels.
The benchmark CAC 40 fell 118 points, or 2.4 percent, to 4,823 after closing 0.1 percent lower on Wednesday.
Airline Air France KLM lost over 3 percent while automaker Renault plunged 3.8 percent and Peugeot declined 3.7 percent.
Banks BNP Paribas, Credit Agricole and Societe Generale gave up 3-4 percent, tracking a decline in bond yields.
Advertising company Publicis Groupe fell 1.6 percent after its third-quarter net revenue fell 9.1 percent to 2.34 billion euros from 2.58 billion euros a year ago.
In economic releases, French consumer prices remained flat in September, final data from the statistical office Insee showed.
Consumer prices remained unchanged on a yearly basis in September, after rising 0.2 percent in August. The annual rate was revised down from +0.1 percent.
On a monthly basis, consumer prices fell 0.5 percent, which was faster than the 0.1 percent drop seen in August but in line with the initial estimate.
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX
© 2020 AFX News
