French leisure and travel stocks drop as new COVID curbs imminent

French leisure and travel stocks, including hotels group Accor and Air France KLM, slumped on Wednesday as France prepared for new restrictions to tackle a resurgence of the COVID-19 virus. President Emmanuel Macron will give a televised address on Wednesday evening.

French leisure and travel stocks, including hotels group Accor and Air France KLM, slumped on Wednesday as France prepared for new restrictions to tackle a resurgence of the COVID-19 virus. Air France KLM dropped by 6.2 percent, planemaker Airbus fell 5.4 percent and French airports group ADP slumped 6 percent.

Accor fell 5.9 percent, catering companies Sodexo and Elior also fell sharply, while cinema group Gaumont lost 2.8 percent and French casino operator Partouche fell 2.3 percent. President Emmanuel Macron will give a televised address on Wednesday evening. The French government has been exploring a new, national lockdown from midnight on Thursday, BFM TV reported, albeit a slightly more flexible one than the two-month shutdown that began in mid-March.

Sources told Reuters earlier this week that possible options for some areas included confining people to their homes at weekends, closing non-essential shops, and starting curfew measures earlier.