The CAC 40 slipped 0.1% to 7,790 on Thursday after the European Central Bank lowered its benchmark rate to 2.0%, the eighth cut in little more than a year, while indicating that this level is now “neutral” and may mark a pause in the easing cycle. Although inflation has moderated, notably with slower price growth in the services sector, the ECB warned that global trade tensions could dampen investment and exports in the near term. Investors also eyed new PMI data from across Europe. In France, construction activity fell to 43.1 in May from 43.6 in April, marking another sharp monthly decline and extending the sector’s contraction into a third consecutive year. At the corporate level, the biggest losses were from Pernod Ricard (-4.26%), Airbus Group (-2.22%) and Stellantis NV (-0.88%), while Thales and SocGen led the gains, with 2.69% and 2.01% respectively.