European stocks open steady amid political volatility in France.

European stock indices opened stable on Thursday, experiencing very limited movements amid a strong sense of uncertainty dominating investor sentiment in European equity markets following the announcement of the ousting of French Prime Minister Michel Barnier after just weeks of political turbulence in Germany.

In terms of trading, the performance of European stock indices at the open was as follows:

• The EURO STOXX 600 index stabilized at 517.85 points.
• The German DAX index rose by 0.2% to 20,243.52 points.
• The French CAC 40 index fell by 0.1% to 7,298.06 points.
• The UK FTSE index decreased by 0.1% to 8,331.50 points.
• The Spanish IBEX 35 index rose by 0.4% to 11,992.20 points.
• The Italian FTSE MIB index increased by 0.2% to 34,206.83 points.

Among the worst-performing stocks, French Safran fell by 4.81%, followed by British Melrose Industries with a decline of 1.5%. As for the leading stocks, French Bpost increased by 4.5%, followed by French Société Générale Bank with a rise of 3%.

This came after the ousting of French Prime Minister Michel Barnier on Wednesday following the approval of a vote of no confidence, where 331 members of parliament voted in favor of the no-confidence motion, after he had spent just 90 days leading the government. The vote followed Barnier’s passage of the 2025 budget without a parliamentary vote, provoking a negative reaction from both leftist parties and the right-wing National Rally.