The Paris stock exchange opened lower, affected by political uncertainties related to Prime Minister Francois Bayrou's austerity plan.

The Paris stock exchange opened Tuesday's session with a significant decline, the CAC 40 index recording a drop of 1.91%. The shares of banks, such as BNP Paribas and Societe Generale, were affected by the political uncertainty generated by the confidence vote that Prime Minister Francois Bayrou will request in front of parliament for his budget austerity plan. If he does not obtain the vote, the government could resign, causing a new political crisis. France is facing a budget deficit of 5.4% of GDP and needs austerity measures to reduce it.