(RTTNews) - French stocks advanced on Friday as official data showed inflation cooled to a three-year low in August, adding impetus to calls for cuts to interest rates in the euro zone.
INSEE statistics agency reported that French consumer prices rose 1.9 percent in August, down from 2.3 percent a month earlier and falling below the European Central Bank's two-percent target for the first time since August 2021.
Meanwhile, the French economy grew at a slower pace than previously thought in the second quarter. GDP grew 0.2 percent in the April-to-June period compared to the first quarter.
Eurozone CPI and U.S. PCE inflation data are due later in the day. The benchmark CAC 40 was up 38 points, or half a percent, at 7,678 after adding 0.8 percent in the previous session.
