Investing.com – France stocks were higher after the close on Wednesday, as gains in the Automobiles & Parts, Aerospace & Defense and Banks sectors led shares higher.
At the close in Paris, the CAC 40 rose 0.99%, while the SBF 120 index gained 0.89%.
The best performers of the session on the CAC 40 were Renault SA (PARIS:RENA), which rose 2.23% or 1.85 points to trade at 84.94 at the close. Meanwhile, Valeo (PARIS:VLOF) added 2.19% or 2.85 points to end at 132.70 and Airbus Group (PARIS:AIR) was up 2.02% or 1.12 points to 56.52 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were EDF (PARIS:EDF), which fell 2.79% or 0.68 points to trade at 23.66 at the close. Technip (PARIS:TECF) declined 1.00% or 0.59 points to end at 58.41 and Arcelormittal (AMS:ISPA) was down 0.93% or 0.09 points to 9.53.
The top performers on the SBF 120 were Genfit (PARIS:GNFT) which rose 7.18% to 63.440, Peugeot SA (PARIS:PEUP) which was up 3.97% to settle at 15.18 and Euler Hermes (PARIS:ELER) which gained 3.42% to close at 99.96.
The worst performers were CGG (PARIS:GEPH) which was down 4.38% to 6.18 in late trade, EDF (PARIS:EDF) which lost 2.79% to settle at 23.66 and Eurofins Scientific (PARIS:EUFI) which was down 1.56% to 239.15 at the close.
Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the Paris Stock Exchange by 466 to 436 and 61 ended unchanged.
Shares in Airbus Group (PARIS:AIR) rose to 52-week highs; gaining 2.02% or 1.12 to 56.52. Shares in Peugeot SA (PARIS:PEUP) rose to 3-year highs; up 3.97% or 0.58 to 15.18. Shares in Euler Hermes (PARIS:ELER) rose to 52-week highs; up 3.42% or 3.31 to 99.96.
The CAC 40 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of CAC 40 options, was down 4.14% to 17.29.
Gold for April delivery was down 0.29% or 3.50 to $1200.90 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude Oil for delivery in April fell 0.20% or 0.10 to hit $50.42 a barrel, while the April Brent Oil contract fell 0.78% or 0.47 to trade at $60.55 a barrel.
EUR/USD was down 0.93% to 1.1073, while EUR/GBP fell 0.25% to 0.7256.
The US Dollar Index was up 0.57% at 96.00.