Investing.com – France stocks were higher after the close on Wednesday, as gains in the Foods & Drugs, Gas & Water and General Financial sectors led shares higher.
At the close in Paris, the CAC 40 rose 0.31%, while the SBF 120 index climbed 0.30%.
The best performers of the session on the CAC 40 were EssilorLuxottica SA (PA:ESLX), which rose 2.36% or 3.58 points to trade at 155.18 at the close. Meanwhile, Compagnie de Saint Gobain SA (PA:SGOB) added 2.08% or 1.17 points to end at 57.41 and L’Oreal SA (PA:OREP) was up 1.62% or 6.00 points to 376.50 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Alstom SA (PA:ALSO), which fell 5.44% or 2.18 points to trade at 37.92 at the close. Safran SA (PA:SAF) declined 1.61% or 1.90 points to end at 115.96 and BNP Paribas SA (PA:BNPP) was down 1.43% or 0.74 points to 51.18.
The top performers on the SBF 120 were Sartorius Stedim Biotech SA (PA:STDM) which rose 4.38% to 433.70, Eramet SA (PA:ERMT) which was up 3.91% to settle at 57.15 and Ipsos (PA:ISOS) which gained 2.54% to close at 36.40.
The worst performers were Alstom SA (PA:ALSO) which was down 5.44% to 37.92 in late trade, Elior Group (PA:ELIOR) which lost 5.28% to settle at 6.29 and CGG SA (PA:GEPH) which was down 4.31% to 0.693 at the close.
Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the Paris Stock Exchange by 319 to 271 and 90 ended unchanged.
Shares in Sartorius Stedim Biotech SA (PA:STDM) rose to all time highs; rising 4.38% or 18.20 to 433.70. Shares in Ipsos (PA:ISOS) rose to 5-year highs; rising 2.54% or 0.90 to 36.40.
The CAC 40 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of CAC 40 options, was unchanged 0% to 18.96 a new 3-months low.
Gold Futures for August delivery was up 0.55% or 9.95 to $1804.15 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in August fell 2.51% or 1.84 to hit $71.53 a barrel, while the September Brent oil contract fell 2.19% or 1.63 to trade at $72.90 a barrel.
EUR/USD was down 0.16% to 1.1803, while EUR/GBP fell 0.06% to 0.8558.
The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.16% at 92.690.