Investing.com – France stocks were higher after the close on Friday, as gains in the Foods & Drugs, Gas & Water and General Financial sectors led shares higher.
At the close in Paris, the CAC 40 added 0.49% to hit a new 1-month high, while the SBF 120 index gained 0.46%.
The best performers of the session on the CAC 40 were L’Oreal SA (PA:OREP), which rose 3.17% or 9.80 points to trade at 318.80 at the close. Meanwhile, Schneider Electric SE (PA:SCHN) added 3.16% or 3.95 points to end at 128.95 and EssilorLuxottica SA (PA:ESLX) was up 3.06% or 4.05 points to 136.25 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Alstom SA (PA:ALSO), which fell 2.03% or 0.88 points to trade at 42.39 at the close. Vinci SA (PA:SGEF) declined 1.11% or 0.96 points to end at 85.70 and Societe Generale SA (PA:SOGN) was down 1.01% or 0.18 points to 17.77.
The top performers on the SBF 120 were Eutelsat Communications SA (PA:ETL) which rose 5.66% to 10.27, Rexel (PA:RXL) which was up 5.74% to settle at 15.10 and Vallourec (PA:VLLP) which gained 4.07% to close at 28.900.
The worst performers were Neoen SA (PA:NEOEN) which was down 5.84% to 53.20 in late trade, Rubis SCA (PA:RUBF) which lost 3.27% to settle at 38.40 and Alstom SA (PA:ALSO) which was down 2.03% to 42.39 at the close.
Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the Paris Stock Exchange by 296 to 273 and 93 ended unchanged.
Shares in Schneider Electric SE (PA:SCHN) rose to all time highs; up 3.16% or 3.95 to 128.95. Shares in Rexel (PA:RXL) rose to 3-years highs; up 5.74% or 0.82 to 15.10.
The CAC 40 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of CAC 40 options, was unchanged 0% to 18.96 a new 1-month low.
Gold Futures for April delivery was up 0.16% or 2.90 to $1829.70 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in March rose 0.46% or 0.27 to hit $58.51 a barrel, while the April Brent oil contract rose 0.72% or 0.44 to trade at $61.58 a barrel.
EUR/USD was down 0.07% to 1.2120, while EUR/GBP fell 0.29% to 0.8751.
The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.04% at 90.448.