France's CAC 40 Index Erases 2007 Gains; Renault and PPR Lead the Decline

(Bloomberg) -- French stocks declined, with the
benchmark CAC 40 Index erasing this year's gains. Renault
SA, the country's second-largest carmaker, PPR SA, the
owner of Gucci Group, paced the retreat.

The CAC 40 dropped 62.49, or 1.1 percent, to 5535.40
as of 9:12 a.m. in Paris, taking its performance this year
to a loss of 0.1 percent.


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European Carbon Emission Permits Rise for Sixth Day; Power Prices Advance

(Bloomberg) -- European Union carbon dioxide permits
rose for a sixth day, the longest consecutive gain in more than two
months. German and French next-day power prices advanced.

Permits for December 2008 advanced as much as 60 cents, or 2.9
percent, to 21.45 euros ($29.39) a metric ton on the European
Climate Exchange in Amsterdam. They traded at 21.05 euros a ton at
5:49 p.m. local time.


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Germany warn Siemens on Libya atomic deal - paper

(Reuters) - Germany's Environment Ministry and opposition Greens party have warned Siemens not to take part in a planned French nuclear deal with Libya, Handelsblatt reported.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy signed a memorandum of understanding for a nuclear energy deal with Libya during a visit there last week.


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Sarkozy preens, ruffles feathers on African tour

(Reuters) - Making his first visit to sub-Saharan Africa since his
election as French president in May, Sarkozy set out his Africa
policy in a public speech to Senegal's main university late on
Thursday, acknowledging colonialism's ills and calling for
democracy, liberty, justice and law, to a mixed reception.




"Cliches, more cliches and still cliches. What an insult!"
the Dakar daily Sud Quotiden said on its front page on Friday.


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French Stocks Rise, Led by Cap Gemini, Danone, Renault, Eramet, Vallourec

(Bloomberg) -- French stocks advanced, led by Cap
Gemini SA and Groupe Danone SA. Eramet SA surged after a report
in Les Echos that Areva SA may buy a 37 percent stake.

The CAC 40 Index gained 32.61, or 0.5 percent, to 6028.58
at 12:14 p.m. in Paris. The SBF 120 Index added 0.6 percent.


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Owens to sell two facilities in Belgium and Norway

(Reuters) - Owens Corning also said it was in "active discussions" with
Saint-Gobain on the potential conversion of the proposed joint
venture into an outright acquisition by Owens Corning of the
French company's Vetrotex business.





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French Shares Including Air France, Cap Gemini Climb; Gaz de France Drops

(Bloomberg) -- French stocks including Air France-
KLM Group SA, Europe's largest airline, and Cap Gemini SA, the
region's biggest computer-services company, advanced. Gaz de
France SA paced declining shares.

The CAC 40 Index was little changed at 6117.24 at 10:52
a.m. in Paris, as 25 shares rose and 15 declined. The SBF 120
Index slipped 0.1 percent to 4457.89.


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French Shares Including Renault, Alstom Advance; Unibail Paces Declines

(Bloomberg) -- French stocks including Renault SA,
the country's second-largest carmaker, and Alstom SA, the world's
third-biggest producer of power plants, increased.

Unibail, France's largest real-estate investment trust,
paced declining shares.


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France, Germany seek to resolve splits over EADS

(Reuters) - Rivalry between French and German camps inside Europe's
biggest aerospace and defense group is widely blamed for delays
to the world's largest airliner, the Airbus A380 superjumbo,
and has strained the two nations' political and economic
relations.




Despite the pressing problems facing the group, Germany
appeared to be resisting French attempts to push through a
speedy management shake-up.


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French IMF candidate to canvass developing states

(Reuters) - Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the French candidate to head the IMF, will visit developing countries to seek their backing following criticism of the long-standing custom that a European always gets the job.

The former Socialist finance minister said in a statement that he had discussed his coming visits to emerging countries on Saturday with Portuguese Prime Minister Jose Socrates, whose country holds the rotating presidency of the European Union.


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French Stock Index Drops; Alstom, PPR, Lafarge Shares Fall on the CAC 40

(Bloomberg) -- French stocks fell for a second day,
paced by Alstom SA, PPR and Lafarge SA.

The CAC 40 Index slipped 18.13, or 0.3 percent, to 6001.09
after earlier dropping as much as 1.4 percent. The SBF 120 Index
also retreated 0.3 percent.


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UPDATE 1-US's Paulson-new IMF chief should push reform

(Reuters) - BELO HORIZONTE, Brazil, July 10 - U.S. Treasury
Secretary Henry Paulson on Tuesday steered clear of endorsing
any particular candidate to take over the International
Monetary Fund but said it should be someone who keeps the drive
to reform it going.




The U.S. Treasury chief, in Brazil at the beginning of a
three-nation tour of Latin America, was asked by reporters
whether he was familiar with the candidacy of former French
Finance Minister Dominique Strauss-Kahn who has backing from
some European Union countries.


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Franco-German balance must remain at EADS-Merkel

(Reuters) - "We want to have equal rights," she said, adding that talks
on the company's future were not yet completed.




Merkel is due to meet French President Nicolas Sarkozy on
Monday in Toulouse to discuss the future of EADS.


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French CAC Index Gains, Led by Shares of BNP Paribas, Sanofi-Aventis

(Bloomberg) -- French stocks rose, paced by BNP
Paribas SA and Sanofi-Aventis SA.

Gaz de France SA also advanced. Electricite de France SA,
Europe's biggest power generator, may buy gas assets from Suez SA
as part of Suez's merger with Gaz de France SA, Les Echos
reported, citing a source it didn't name.


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Trichet Says European States Must Implement Agreement to Balance Budgets

(Bloomberg) -- European Central Bank President Jean-
Claude Trichet said a three-month old European Union balanced-
budget agreement ``must be implemented,'' dismissing French
President Nicolas Sarkozy's call to loosen deficit controls.

Trichet's comments in an interview today in Aix-en-Provence,
southern France, marked the second time in four days he has
indirectly criticized Sarkozy, who has proposed 11 billion euros
($15 billion) of tax cuts to spur economic growth. Sarkozy wants
defense spending excluded from deficit calculations for France,
Germany, Italy and the U.K.


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BNP Paribas leads French M&A league table -survey

(Reuters) - In second place was U.S. investment bank Morgan Stanley
which advised on deals worth 45.7 billion euros while
Goldman Sachs took third place.




So far this year, BNP Paribas has advised French reinsurer
Scor on its takeover of Swiss rival Converium
and also advised French insurer AGF over its buyout by
parent company Allianz .


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European automakers face rating challenge: Moody's

(Reuters) - "Moody's believes global demand for passenger cars and light vehicles should grow by 2-3 percent per annum in the long term," Falk Frey, a Moody's senior vice president, said in a report. "However, the challenges for European manufacturers to participate in this trend are immense."




The credit ratings agency said the main driver of the credit quality of European automakers in the short-to-medium term will be their dependency on Western European markets where demand is set to remain flat, leading to a continued battle for market share. French and Italian producers in particular are highly exposed to Western Europe, it said.


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Sanofi pulls obesity drug application in U.S.

(Reuters) - The French drugmaker said it would work towards resubmitting the medicine, known by the brand names Acomplia and Zimulti, at a future date and would undertake necessary talks with the Food and Drug Administration on required modifications to its file.




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French group Valeo to continue talks with fund

(Reuters) - PARIS, June 29 - French car-parts maker Valeo said on Friday it would continue talks with an investment fund, which a source familiar with the matter said concerned possible buyout discussions involving PAI Partners.



"Talks will continue over the weekend with one fund," said a spokeswoman for Valeo, which has a market value of about 3 billion euros .


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European Stocks Fall; Deutsche Bank, France Telecom, Anglo American Drop

(Bloomberg) -- European stocks declined for a third
day, led by financial shares and insurers, after the Bank for
International Settlements said central banks will need to keep
raising interest rates to quell inflation.

Deutsche Bank AG, Germany's largest bank, and insurer Axa SA
paced the drop. France Telecom SA fell the most in two weeks as
the French government is selling shares worth about 2.7 billion
euros ($3.6 billion). Anglo American Plc and Antofagasta Plc led
mining companies lower after Cazenove downgraded the stocks.


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