French stocks slide after violent protests

French equities led losses ‌in Europe on Monday after one of the worst bouts of protest violence in years over the weekend, while broader ‌sentiment was subdued ahead of a busy week of ‌earnings.

The blue-chip CAC 40 index slid 1.02% after nationwide protests, triggered by rising prices and worsening public services, rocked the euro zone's ⁠second-largest ​economy as it ⁠grapples with weak growth and rising debt. The pan-European STOXX 600 index ⁠was down 0.39% to 642.24 points by 0708 GMT after ​climbing more than 2% the previous week.

Banks fell the ⁠most, down 1.4%, with the bank-heavy Spanish benchmark down 0.9%. Investors were ⁠also ​eyeing earnings from European and US corporate giants to help risk appetite after AI-linked stocks sold off last ⁠week on concerns over rising debt to fund infrastructure.

Among individual ⁠movers, Norway's ⁠Mowi gained 4.1% after the salmon producer's third quarter harvest volumes hit an all-time high.