CAC 40 Roughly Flat At Noon

(RTTNews) - French stocks are turning in a mixed performance in cautious trade on Monday as investors continue to weigh the potential impact of the ongoing war in the Middle East, and looking ahead to crucial monetary policy meetings this week.

The Federal Reserve is set to announce its monetary policy on Wednesday, while the European Central Bank and the Bank of England are scheduled to make their policy announcements on Thursday.

Fears of global energy crisis escalated today as the war in the Middle East enters the third week. An Iranian drone strike caused a temporary shutdown of Dubai's airport, highlighting the threats to the world economy.

Meanwhile, European Union foreign ministers are scheduled to meet later in the day to debate a potential naval response to the effective closure of the key oil shipping route.

The benchmark CAC 40 was down 2.94 points or 0.04% at 7,908.59 a little past noon. The index had dropped to 7,856.61 earlier in the session.

Among the gainers, STMicroelectronics is up 1.7% and Unibail Rodamco is moving up 1.5%. Accor, Bouygues and Societe Generale are up 0.8%-1%.

Capgemini is down 2.5%, while Pernod Ricard, Stellantis, Thales and Bureau Veritas are down 1.6%-1.9%. Hermes International and L'Oreal are lower by 1.2% and 1.1%, respectively.

Publicis Groupe, LVMH, Dassault Systemes, Safran, ArcelorMittal, EssilorLuxottica and Saint Gobain are down 0.4%-1%.