Investing.com – France stocks were higher after the close on Wednesday, as gains in the Utilities, Healthcare and Consumer Goods sectors led shares higher.
At the close in Paris, the CAC 40 rose 0.29%, while the SBF 120 index added 0.27%.
The best performers of the session on the CAC 40 were L’Oreal SA (PA:OREP), which rose 3.76% or 6.60 points to trade at 182.05 at the close. Meanwhile, Engie SA (PA:ENGIE) added 2.61% or 0.34 points to end at 13.55 and Danone SA (PA:DANO) was up 2.05% or 1.31 points to 65.36 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were STMicroelectronics NV (PA:STM), which fell 5.42% or 1.035 points to trade at 18.050 at the close. Cap Gemini SA (PA:CAPP) declined 2.47% or 2.55 points to end at 100.70 and TechnipFMC PLC (PA:FTI) was down 1.99% or 0.47 points to 23.19.
The top performers on the SBF 120 were Suez SA (PA:SEVI) which rose 3.76% to 11.766, L’Oreal SA (PA:OREP) which was up 3.76% to settle at 182.05 and Biomerieux SA (PA:BIOX) which gained 3.19% to close at 68.00.
The worst performers were Soitec SA (PA:SOIT) which was down 7.17% to 58.900 in late trade, STMicroelectronics NV (PA:STM) which lost 5.42% to settle at 18.050 and Eurofins Scientific (PA:EUFI) which was down 4.78% to 434.00 at the close.
Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the Paris Stock Exchange by 374 to 193 and 86 ended unchanged.
The CAC 40 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of CAC 40 options, was up 2.83% to 18.12.
Gold Futures for April delivery was down 1.16% or 15.60 to $1326.40 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in May fell 1.75% or 1.14 to hit $64.11 a barrel, while the June Brent oil contract fell 1.47% or 1.02 to trade at $68.44 a barrel.
EUR/USD was down 0.46% to 1.2346, while EUR/GBP fell 0.18% to 0.8749.
The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.55% at 89.45.