Paris - Anxiety about corporate earnings and the expected announcement that OPEC will cut oil production have driven French shares sharply lower on Thursday.

In mid-morning trading, the Paris Bourse's CAC 40 index was down 6.09 per cent, at 3,109.09, with 39 of 40 listed stocks losing ground.

France's two large car makers, Renault and Peugeot, were among the biggest losers, giving up 16.41 and 14.45 per cent, respectively, because the global car market is screeching to a halt.

On Friday, Peugeot announced drastic production cutbacks for the fourth quarter of 2008, and Renault is to shut down its French factories for at least a week because of the drop in demand for cars. (dpa)