CAC 40 Drifts Lower As Powell Dashes Rate-cut Hopes

(RTTNews) - French stocks traded lower on Friday after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell signalled a cautious approach on rate cuts, given persistent inflationary pressures.

Powell said the U.S. central bank does not need to rush to lower interest rates and can approach decisions carefully.

The benchmark CAC 40 was down 30 points, or 0.4 percent, at 7,281 after climbing 1.3 percent on Thursday.

Energy company TotalEnergies was marginally higher after it joined forces with BP, Equinor and Shell to invest in support of the UN Sustainable Development Goal 7 (UN SDG7).

Drug maker Sanofi tumbled 3.4 percent after U.S. President-elect Donald Trump tapped anti-vaccine activist and conspiracy theorist Robert F. Kennedy as his secretary of health.