French shares drifted lower in cautious trade on Tuesday as a two-day meeting of the U.S. Federal Reserve gets underway later today, with investors expecting the U.S. central bank to hike rates by 25 basis points and maintain expectations of three hikes in 2018.
Other major central banks, including the European Central Bank, Bank of England and the Swiss National Bank will announce their policy decisions on Thursday.
The benchmark CAC 40 was down 18 points or 0.33 percent at 5,369 in late opening deals after losing 0.2 percent in the previous session.
IT services group Atos jumped 5 percent after making a formal proposal to acquire Gemalto for a total consideration of approximately 4.3 billion euros. Gemalto shares surged 33 percent in Amsterdam.
Energy management firm Schneider Electric was little changed. The company reiterated its target of 3 percent to 6 percent average organic revenue growth across the economic cycle, with Digital acting as a key driver.
Oil and gas firm Total SA rose over 1 percent as Brent crude hit a more than two-year high after the closure of a major North Sea pipeline for repair.
In economic releases, French payroll employment growth slowed in the third quarter, statistical office Insee said.
Net payroll job creation reached 44,500 in the third quarter, while employment increased 0.2 percent after 0.4 percent growth in the previous quarter.
by RTT Staff Writer
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