French shares drop 0.50 pct on Tuesday

PARIS, Aug. 20 (Xinhua) -- French shares lost on Tuesday, with the benchmark Paris CAC 40 down 0.50 percent, or 26.92 points, to close at 5,344.64 points.

Of the 40 selected large companies, 34 lost in the day.

French public relations company Publicis Groupe lost 1.90 percent, the top loser of the blue chips. French tire manufacturer Michelin (CGDE) went down by 1.63 percent and French water and waste group Veolia Environnement lost 1.59 percent.

European multinational aerospace corporation and the world's second biggest aerospace and defence company Airbus Group advanced 1.14 percent. French software company Dassault Systemes rose 0.39 percent and French-based international ophthalmic optics company EssilorLuxottica rose 0.39 percent.