Paris Attacks: Travel And Holiday Stocks Hit

Travel, hotel and leisure stocks have fallen sharply across Europe in the wake of Friday's devastating terror attacks in Paris.

The CAC 40 retreated on Monday as investors digested the consequences for the economy not only in France but across the world.

The French financial markets opened amid tight security despite a third day of national mourning.

The country's premier share index was not alone in initially falling in Europe - with the FTSE 100 0.3% down in early trading while the German DAX and Italian MIB also lost value.

However, they later recovered some poise - supported by news that inflation returned to the euro area last month - rising at an annual rate of 0.1% compared to a -0.1% reading in September.

Mining stocks helped the FTSE 100 into positive territory.

European markets took their early lead from Asia, where Japan's Nikkei lost 1.1% on the back of a rush for the dollar and gold following the murders in the French capital and GDP figures which confirmed the Japanese economy had entered recession again.

On the currency markets, the euro dropped about 0.5% against the dollar and the yen.

Investors were already nervous about slowing growth in China - with stock and oil prices all hit sharply last week.

Travel, leisure and hotel shares were among those feeling the greatest pain on Monday as people fretted over the impact of the attacks and whether the atrocity could lead to a deeper conflict in Syria and Iraq.

Accor (EUREX: 485822.EX - news) , the French hotel firm, lost more than 7% of its value when trading began.

The biggest faller on the FTSE 100 during early trading was TUI Group, the travel firm, followed by British Airways' owner IAG and cruise firm Carnival (LSE: CCL.L - news) .

Michael Hewson, chief market analyst at CMC Markets, said: "While not wanting to second-guess the effect of the events of the weekend, the closure of France's borders, along with other security measures, the impact on consumer confidence could well be considerable in the coming days and weeks.

"This in itself is likely to be significant for not only politicians but central bankers as well, and anything that causes European consumers to retrench further is likely to be a significant concern for a European Central Bank (ECB) already concerned about deflation and a lack of demand."

Scores of businesses across France were expected to be closed on Monday as a mark of respect to the 129 killed and the many injured in Paris though others opened as normal in defiance of the terrorists - with the Metro (Other OTC: MTRAF - news) in Paris reported to be busy.

Theme parks, such as Disneyland Paris, were shut.

The attacks, blamed on the Islamic State group, were carried out just as the French economy was showing signs of momentum following a sluggish start to the year.

Figures released just hours before the terrorists struck showed French GDP growth of 0.3% in the third quarter - with the ECB's stimulus and low oil prices helping boost demand for services.

However, the ECB has warned of headwinds from the slowdown in Asia and it must be concerned that uncertainty arising from the terror attacks will hurt investment and dent the effect of its €1.1tn quantitative easing programme.

Gold (Other OTC: GDCWF - news) is very much seen as a safe haven during troubled times - last seen during the financial crisis.

Spot gold rose 1% in value to $1,094 an ounce on Monday - shifting it from a five-year low of last week.