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(FILES) Screens display news and trading rates at the Euronext Stock Exchange services in Paris' financial district of La Defense on June 24, 2016. The Paris stock market sank to its worst weekly performance since March 2022 on June 14, 2024, wiping out its gains for the year on fears over the upcoming snap elections in France. (Photo by Thomas SAMSON / AFP)
The Paris stock market rose at the start of trading Thursday as President Emmanuel Macron seeks a way out of France's political crisis.
The Paris CAC 40 index won 0.4 percent to 7,328.79 points and the euro advanced 0.3 percent versus the dollar.
Frankfurt's DAX edged up 0.1 percent to 20,255.25 points and outside the eurozone, London's FTSE 100 was flat at 8,337.22.
"Markets remain calm for now, but if the far left and right succeed in eventually toppling Macron as president then we can expect a fresh round of jitters in French yields, the CAC40 and the euro," predicted Chris Beauchamp, chief market analyst at online trading platform IG.
French lawmakers on Wednesday voted to oust the government of Prime Minister Michel Barnier after just three months in office, a historic move that hurled the country further into political uncertainty.
For the first time in more than sixty years, the lower-house National Assembly toppled the incumbent government, approving a no-confidence motion that had been proposed by the hard left that was crucially backed by the far right.
Barnier's rapid ejection from office comes after snap parliamentary elections this summer, which resulted in a hung parliament with no party having an overall majority and the far right holding the key to the government's survival.
Macron now has the difficult task of picking a viable successor with over two years of his presidential term left.
He is to address the nation at 1900 GMT on Thursday, the Elysee said. Earlier in the day, Macron is to receive Barnier at 0900 GMT, when he is expected to expect his government's resignation.