French shares drop 1.48 pct on Monday

PARIS, Feb. 5 (Xinhua) -- French shares lost on Monday, with the benchmark Paris CAC 40 down 1.48 percent, or 79.15 points, to close at 5,285.83 points.

Thirty-six of the 40 selected large companies lost in the day.

Building material manufacturer LafargeHolcim tumbled 2.57 percent, the top loser of the blue chips. French company producing ophthalmic lenses, Essilor Intl. was down by 2.48 percent. French multinational luxury goods conglomerate, LVMH, edged down 2.20 percent.

Steel giant ArcelorMittal advanced 1.10 percent, the top gainer of the day. STMicroelectronics, a French-Italian multinational electronics and semiconductor manufacturer, gained 0.81 percent, while French multinational hotel group Accor went up by 0.25 percent. Enditem