European stocks fell Monday amid unrest in France and street clashes in Milan, with French budget politics in focus as the technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite rose in New York.
Euronext data show Paris’s CAC 40 finished at 7,868.05, down 1.11%. Milan’s FTSE MIB closed at 49,086.27 points, according to Borsa Italiana; AFP reported a 1.55% drop. In New York, the Nasdaq Composite rose 290.85 points, or 1.11%, to 26,430.89, Nasdaq data showed.
AFP also reported clashes in Milan, while Reuters reported that investors saw France’s protests as a possible hurdle to the government’s fiscal plans. The close of either European index does not reveal how much unrest contributed to its loss. Reuters also cited concerns about France’s debt and whether budget changes could pass.
France’s proposed 2027 fiscal package sets a public-deficit target of 5.0% of gross domestic product, below the revised 5.4% forecast for 2026. A National Assembly filing lists €43 billion in corrective measures spread across the budget and social security financing bills. The measures remain before lawmakers, making passage a key part of the government’s deficit plan. An earlier EconoTimes report on French stocks and bonds provides background on the pressures surrounding the country’s finances.
In an Oct. 18 address, French President Emmanuel Macron recounted damage to shops and public buildings during the Oct. 17 unrest. He distinguished those responsible for violence from protesters raising concerns about living costs, fuel prices and education. Macron promised assistance for affected businesses and said the prime minister would convene students, educators, unions, employers, local officials and lawmakers in the days ahead. The Associated Press compared the episode with France’s 2018 yellow vest protests.
Art Hogan, chief market strategist at B. Riley Wealth, told AFP the U.S. market move felt like “a little bit of an oversold bounce.” France’s debt agency, Agence France Trésor, lists Friday, Oct. 23, as Moody’s next rating date for the country’s Aa3 rating, which has a negative outlook.
