Investing.com – France stocks were higher after the close on Wednesday, as gains in the Technology Hardware & Equipment Financial, Automobiles & Parts and Aerospace & Defense sectors led shares higher.
At the close in Paris, the CAC 40 rose 2.37% to hit a new 5-year high, while the SBF 120 index gained 2.24%.
The best performers of the session on the CAC 40 were Alcatel-Lucent (PARIS:ALUA), which rose 5.40% or 0.189 points to trade at 3.686 at the close. Meanwhile, Bouygues (PARIS:BOUY) added 4.53% or 1.62 points to end at 37.38 and Airbus Group (PARIS:AIR) was up 4.33% or 2.55 points to 61.43 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were EDF (PARIS:EDF), which rose 0.31% or 0.07 points to trade at 22.75 at the close. Carrefour (PARIS:CARR) added 0.49% or 0.15 points to end at 30.71 and GDF Suez (PARIS:GSZ) was up 0.54% or 0.10 points to 18.54.
The top performers on the SBF 120 were Nexans (PARIS:NEXS) which rose 5.47% to 34.59, Alcatel-Lucent (PARIS:ALUA) which was up 5.40% to settle at 3.686 and Arkema (PARIS:AKE) which gained 4.59% to close at 73.80.
The worst performers were JC Decaux SA (PARIS:JCDX) which was down 4.48% to 32.40 in late trade, Biomerieux (PARIS:BIOX) which lost 2.46% to settle at 93.83 and Iliad (PARIS:ILD) which was down 1.31% to 218.35 at the close.
Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the Paris Stock Exchange by 644 to 250 and 58 ended unchanged.
Shares in Alcatel-Lucent (PARIS:ALUA) rose to 3-year highs; gaining 5.40% or 0.189 to 3.686. Shares in Bouygues (PARIS:BOUY) rose to 3-year highs; up 4.53% or 1.62 to 37.38. Shares in Airbus Group (PARIS:AIR) rose to all time highs; up 4.33% or 2.55 to 61.43. Shares in Alcatel-Lucent (PARIS:ALUA) rose to 3-year highs; rising 5.40% or 0.189 to 3.686.
The CAC 40 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of CAC 40 options, was down 3.86% to 18.45.
Gold for April delivery was down 0.85% or 9.90 to $1150.20 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude Oil for delivery in April fell 1.57% or 0.76 to hit $47.53 a barrel, while the April Brent Oil contract rose 1.04% or 0.58 to trade at $56.98 a barrel.
EUR/USD was down 1.46% to 1.0540, while EUR/GBP fell 0.51% to 0.7064.
The US Dollar Index was up 1.17% at 99.76.