FX.co ★ CAC 40 Tumbles Amidst Political Uncertainty

French stocks nosedived on Monday following an unexpected declaration by President Emmanuel Macron calling for a snap legislative election.

Macron's announcement came on the heels of gains by far-right Eurosceptic nationalists in the European Parliament elections.

The benchmark CAC 40 dropped 137 points, or 1.7 percent, to settle at 7,864 after already experiencing a decline of half a percent on Friday.

The banking sector bore the brunt of the sell-off, with BNP Paribas, Credit Agricole, and Societe Generale stocks plummeting between 4 and 6 percent.

Airbus SE saw a 1.1 percent decline. The aerospace giant disclosed that its Defence and Space division has secured a contract from Al Yah Satellite Communications Co. PJSC (Yahsat), the UAE's leading satellite solutions provider, for two new geostationary telecommunications satellites, Al Yah 4 and Al Yah 5.

The agreement also includes the provision of two Airbus ARROW spacecraft platforms for prospective deployment in low Earth orbit.