(RTTNews) - French stocks were little changed on Monday as investors digested weak exports data from China and looked ahead to a European Central Bank meeting later this week amid expectations it would cut rates to boost growth.
The benchmark CAC 40 was virtually unchanged at 5,599 after rising 0.2 percent on Friday.
Air France-KLM Group slumped 8 percent after posting disappointing passenger traffic figures for August.
Its total group passengers, comprising Air France, KLM and Transavia, for the month of August increased 2.3 percent from last year to 9.8 million. Capacity grew 2.4 percent and traffic increased 2.1 percent.
On the economic front, the Bank of France retained its growth forecast for the third quarter today amid an improvement in confidence in the manufacturing sector.
The bank continues to see a 0.3 percent expansion in the three months to September, same as its initial estimate. The French economy expanded 0.3 percent sequentially in the second quarter.
Survey data from the bank showed that the manufacturing business confidence rose to 99 from 96 in July.
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