BRUSSELS/FRANKFURT/PARIS (dpa-AFX) - French stocks were flat to slightly lower on Tuesday as investors fretted over rising Covid-19 cases in the U.S. and Europe and awaited an EU summit on Thursday that will decide over a 1.8 trillion-euro coronavirus aid package.
The European Central Bank holds its latest policy-setting meeting on Thursday after flagging more emergency bond buying and cheap liquidity for banks.
In the U.S., the Congress is expected to vote this week on a funding measure to give lawmakers more time to negotiate an emergency coronavirus stimulus plan.
The benchmark CAC 40 was marginally lower at 5,568 after losing 0.6 percent the previous day. Automakers Renault and Peugeot were moving lower as the euro fluctuated amid continued uncertainty around the Brexit negotiations.
In economic releases, French payroll employment increased in the third quarter as the relaxation of the coronavirus containment measures underpinned economic activity and job creation, final data from the statistical office Insee showed.
Payroll employment advanced 1.6 percent or 401,000 in the third quarter. However, this was 295,900, or 1.2 percent below its pre-crisis level at the end of 2019.
The growth rate for the third quarter was revised down from 1.8 percent estimated on November 6.
Payroll employment in the private sector increased 312,400 and that in public services climbed 88,700.
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