The French market is notably lower in early afternoon trading Thursday, as downgrading of Greek bond ratings by Moody's Investors Service unnerved global markets, amid fears of moderation in growth.
Moody's Investors Service Wednesday downgraded Greece's local and foreign currency bond ratings deeper into junk status, citing heightened risk that the country will fail to stabilize its debt position without a debt restructuring.
The Euro Stoxx 50 index of eurozone blue chippers is declining 0.88 percent, while the Stoxx Europe 50 index, which includes some major U.K. companies, is dropping 0.79 percent.
The CAC 40 index opened lower at 3,931, compared to the previous close of 3,965. The index is currently losing 1.12 percent.
Lender Natixis is plunging about 6 percent. BNP Paribas and Credit Agricole are declining 0.8 percent and 0.4 percent, respectively. Societe Generale is flat.
Peugeot and Renault are declining 4.5 percent and 1.8 percent, in that order.
France Telecom is falling 0.7 percent. Goldman Sachs lowered its price target on the stock to 14 euros from 14.10 euros.
Builders Bouygues and Vinci are losing 0.9 percent and 0.8 percent, respectively.
Elsewhere in Europe, the German DAX is declining 0.93 percent and the UK's FTSE 100 is losing 0.71 percent. Switzerland is closed for the Ascension Day holiday.
In economic news, British construction sector activity showed a solid expansion in May, data from Markit Economics showed. The Markit/Chartered Institute of Purchasing & Supply Purchasing Managers' Index rose to 54 from 53.3 in April. The expected reading for May was 53.5.
Across Asia/Pacific, markets ended firmly in the red. Australia's All Ordinaries lost 2.20 percent and China's Shanghai Composite Index retreated 1.40 percent. Hong Kong's Hang Seng and Japan's Nikkei 225 shed 1.58 percent and 1.69 percent.
In the U.S., futures point to a slightly higher open on Wall Street. In the previous session, the Dow plunged 2.2 percent, the Nasdaq dropped 2.3 percent and the S&P 500 plummeted 2.3 percent.
In the commodity space, crude is adding $0.23 to $100.52 per barrel and gold is rising $1.20 to $1544.40 a troy ounce.
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June 12, 2026 17:14 ET Major central bank action was the focus this week in economic news. The European Central Bank became the first major central bank to move in response to the rising inflationary pressures in the backdrop of the conflict in the Middle East. In North America, the U.S. inflation and trade data as well as Canada’s central bank decision gained attention. The Chinese trade data was the main news in Asia.