European stocks decline under pressure from unrest in France and anticipation of corporate results

European stocks fell on Monday, led by French stocks that suffered the largest losses, after a wave of violence linked to protests over the weekend, at a time when a state of caution prevailed among investors ahead of a week full of corporate results announcements.

The French CAC 40 index of leading stocks fell by 1.38 percent, after protests that broke out across the country, against the backdrop of rising prices and deteriorating public services, shook the second largest economy in the euro zone, which is facing weak growth and increasing debt, according to Reuters.

The unrest has increased political uncertainty ahead of presidential elections scheduled for 2027, and has also put pressure on French government bonds, testing investors' ability to take risks.

“The political risks are clear, which means volatility in the near term,” said Kiran Ganesh, multi-asset strategist at UBS Global Wealth Management, adding that there are a range of other factors, in addition to the protests, that may be more important for the economy’s prospects in the medium and long term.

Shares of French banks BNP Paribas, Société Générale, and Credit Agricole fell by rates ranging between 2.2 and 2.6 percent. The shares of the retail company “Carrefour” also fell by 1.9 percent, and the shares of the shopping center operator “Unibail Rodamco Westfield” decreased by 2 percent.

On the continent level, the European Stoxx 600 index fell by 0.79 percent to 639.63 points by 09:13 GMT, after rising by more than 2 percent during the previous week, recording its best weekly performance since late June.

European stocks showed a greater ability to withstand compared to their American counterparts during the wave of selling in stocks related to artificial intelligence, amid fears of the growing debt needed to finance the sector’s infrastructure.

Cyclical sectors led the declines, with defense company stocks among the lowest decliners, while bank stocks were also under pressure.

In Spain, the main index fell by 1.34 percent, affected by the decline in bank stocks, at a time when the early elections scheduled for next month added more political uncertainty to the euro zone.

On Saturday, the far-left parties in Spain presented their lists of candidates separately to run in the early elections, reducing the chances of Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez to retain power at the head of a leftist coalition.

In parallel, investors are awaiting the business results of major European and American companies, searching for indicators that may help restore risk appetite following the wave of selling in artificial intelligence stocks last week.

The German software company SAP, the British bank Barclays, and the Finnish telecommunications equipment company Nokia are scheduled to announce their results later in the week.

In the United States, the results of Meta Platforms and a number of semiconductor companies will be subject to scrutiny, in search of indicators regarding demand for artificial intelligence technologies and spending trends in the sector, which may provide a new direction for stock markets.

In individual stock movements, the shares of the Norwegian salmon production company Moi rose by 3.8 percent, after its harvest volumes during the third quarter reached a record level.

Debt issuance by Indian companies is likely to accelerate, and may hit a record level before the end of the year, as borrowers seek to tap debt markets ahead of an expected increase in interest rates, bankers said.

State-owned companies with high credit ratings, as well as companies financing large acquisitions, may continue the momentum witnessed in debt issuance during the first nine months of the year.

Indian companies had raised about 8.5 trillion rupees ($89.70 billion) through private placements by the end of September. Last month alone saw the issuance of bonds worth 1.43 trillion rupees, the highest monthly total in more than six years, according to Prime Database data.

Bankers expect this momentum to continue, putting this year’s issuances on track to exceed last year’s record level of 11.2 trillion rupees.

“We expect issuance volumes to remain strong, and supply could see a record level this year, barring unexpected fluctuations,” said Akshay Naik, head of debt capital markets in India at Citi.

He added: “We are communicating with a number of medium and large companies that are preparing to enter the bond market for the first time, and are closely monitoring the market to seize the appropriate timing for the issuance.”

Companies accelerated their fundraising in September, including through two large bond issuance deals carried out by Reliance Industries, which does not frequently resort to the debt market, in an effort to stabilize financing costs before an expected rise in borrowing costs.

The Indian central bank raised interest rates by 25 basis points this month, indicating the possibility of further increases.

Investors widely expect another rate hike in December, with the increase likely to reach 50 basis points. Analysts said that companies are seeking to advance their borrowing plans to an earlier date, in anticipation of a rise in interest rates in the coming period.

“Some borrowing advances have already begun, and this trend is expected to continue through October and November,” said Nishchay Nath, founder and CEO of Bond Scanner, an electronic bond trading platform.

He added that borrowers with high credit ratings, including state-owned companies, financial institutions operating across India, and major non-bank lending institutions, will continue to head to the market, in light of continued strong demand from investors for debt instruments with higher credit ratings.

The number of train passengers within cities in Saudi Arabia increased by 368 percent during the year 2025, reaching 145.4 million passengers, compared to 31.1 million passengers in 2024, according to railway transport statistics, issued by the General Authority for Statistics.

The total number of train passengers within and between cities increased to about 156.4 million passengers, compared to 42.7 million passengers in the previous year, an increase of 266.5 percent.

On the other hand, the number of passengers on intercity trains decreased by 5.6 percent to 10.9 million passengers, compared to 11.6 million passengers in 2024.

On a monthly basis, total passengers recorded their lowest levels in April at 10.8 million passengers, while reaching their highest levels in December at 15.9 million passengers.

Regarding passenger transport performance, total traffic reached 3.61 billion passenger-kilometres in 2025, a decrease of 3.1 percent, compared to 3.72 billion passenger-kilometres in the previous year.

The Haramain Express train accounted for 76 percent of the total performance, recording 2.74 billion passenger-kilometres, despite a decline of 6.1 percent.

In contrast, the performance of the East Train increased by 8.3 percent to 496 million passenger-km, and the North Train by 6.9 percent to 370 million passenger-km.

High freight and freight transportation

The performance of freight transport by rail increased by 3.6 percent during 2025, reaching about 17 billion tons-kilometres, compared to 16.43 billion tons-kilometres in 2024, while the quantities of freight transported reached 16.1 million tons, compared to 15.6 million tons in the previous year.

The Northern Railway accounted for 96.3 percent of the total freight transport performance, recording 16.37 billion ton-kilometres, an increase of 3.3 percent year on year. It also transported 14.4 million tons of goods, representing 89.7 percent of the total cargo quantities during the year.

The Northern Train shipments were distributed between 5.1 million tons of phosphate, 5 million tons of bauxite, 2.6 million tons of phosphoric acid, and 1.7 million tons of molten sulfur.

The train recorded the highest monthly freight quantity in March, at 1.3 million tons.

On the other hand, the performance of freight transportation on the Orient Train increased by 9.4 percent to 637 million tons-kilometres, compared to 582.1 million tons-kilometres in 2024. The train transported 1.7 million tons of goods, which included 782.8 thousand tons of limestone, 756.9 thousand tons of grain, and 117 thousand tons of cement.

The number of standard containers transported by rail also increased to 915.4 thousand containers in 2025. Container traffic recorded its highest monthly levels in March at 89.9 thousand containers, while the quantities of freight transported in tons reached its peak in December at 173.1 thousand tons.

Increase passenger and freight flights

The number of passenger train trips reached about 1.4 million trips during 2025, during which they covered a total distance of 42.3 million kilometers. The Riyadh Train took 949.4 thousand trips, with a total distance of 26.8 million kilometers.

In the freight sector, the number of trips increased to 8,885 trips, compared to 6,807 trips in 2024, and freight trains traveled about 6.1 million kilometers. The East Train carried out 5,918 trips, while the North Train recorded the largest distance traveled, amounting to 3.7 million kilometers.

In terms of punctuality, the Haramain Express Train recorded the highest rate of 97.8 percent, followed by the East Train with a rate of 96.1 percent, and then the North Train with a rate of 94.3 percent. Trip cancellation rates reached 0 percent for the East Train, 0.17 percent for the Haramain Express Train, and 0.35 percent for the North Train.