Despite a steady early session on Wall Street, French shares began the week with another weak performance on Monday, with banking shares leading the decline.

The Paris Bourse's CAC blue-chip index ended the day off by 3.96 per cent, at 3,067.35, with declining issues outnumbering winners by about 12 to 1.

The bank Societe Generale was the biggest loser of the session, falling by 15.56 per cent, to 38.00 euros, while another French bank, Credit Agricole, slipped by 11.17 per cent, to 10.10 euros, and French-Belgian financial services group Dexia lost 10.09 per cent, to 3.92 euros.

Troubled car maker Renault, which last week announced drastic production cuts due to low demand, lost 12.61 per cent per cent, to 19.40 euros.

The CAC 40 has lost more than 45 per cent of its value since the beginning of the year, and is off by more than 26 per cent over the past month alone.