European shares were subdued on Monday, with French stocks lagging after Prime Minister, Sebastien Lecornu named a new Finance Minister, while gains in technology and energy stocks helped limit broader losses.
The pan-European STOXX 600 inched 0.1% lower to570.1 points . The index briefly hit an intraday record high on Monday after climbing more than 2.8% last week. French stocks were down 0.7% after Lecornu named Oland Lescure, a close ally of President Emmanuel Macron, as Finance Minister on Sunday.
Eurozone banks dipped 0.6%, with French lenders Societe Generale, Credit Agricole and BNP aribas leading declines. Keeping broader losses at bay, oil and gas gained0.8% tracking higher oil prices after OPEC+’s planned production increase for November was more modest than expected.
Technology stocks also advanced 0.5%, with heavyweight ASML up 1.6% early on. Among other moving stocks, SEB slid 22.3% after the French kitchenware maker cut its annual sales and profit forecast.
United Kingdom’s Aston Martin dropped 6.8% after the luxury carmaker warned of a full-year loss that would be bigger than market consensus.
–Reuters–
