CAC 40 Gains After Strong PMI Data
(RTTNews) - French stocks advanced on Thursday as a survey showed France's private sector expanded in August for the first time since April, driven by the upturn in services activity.
The composite output index rose to 52.7 in August from 49.1 in July, according to flash survey results from S&P Global. The score was forecast to remain unchanged at 49.1.
This was the first time since April that the index has posted above the 50.0 threshold and also suggested the strongest expansion since March 2023.
The services Purchasing Managers' Index hit a 27-month high of 55.0 compared to 50.1 in July while the manufacturing PMI declined unexpectedly to an eight-month low of 42.1 from 44.0 a month ago.
Meanwhile, dovish Fed minutes and downward revisions to U.S. job growth also reinforced investor expectations of a rate cut by the Federal Reserve in September.
The benchmark CAC 40 was up 29 points, or 0.4 percent, at 7,554 after rising half a percent the previous day.