Paris stocks down as banks plunge again

PARIS: The French stock exchange opened down again Tuesday, led by plunging bank shares, with high street giants BNP Paribas down three percent and Societe Generale down four.

The CAC40 index as a whole was down 0.75 percent on 2,918.07, but all eyes were on the banks, following overnight reports that German engineering firm Siemens had withdrawn half-a-billion euros from a French lender.

Copyright AFP (Agence France-Presse), 2011