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 0.53% to hit a new 5-year high, while the SBF 120 index added 0.49%.
The best performers of the session on the CAC 40 were Societe Generale SA (PA:SOGN), which rose 3.60% or 0.82 points to trade at 23.61 at the close. Meanwhile, BNP Paribas SA (PA:BNPP) added 3.12% or 1.62 points to end at 53.48 and Sanofi SA (PA:SASY) was up 2.42% or 2.07 points to 87.47 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were STMicroelectronics NV (PA:STM), which fell 2.26% or 0.74 points to trade at 32.01 at the close. Legrand SA (PA:LEGD) declined 1.56% or 1.30 points to end at 82.00 and Compagnie Generale des Etablissements Michelin SCA (PA:MICP) was down 1.55% or 1.95 points to 123.85.
The top performers on the SBF 120 were BIC (PA:BICP) which rose 9.94% to 59.20, TechnipFMC PLC (PA:FTI) which was up 9.27% to settle at 6.37 and CGG SA (PA:GEPH) which gained 5.19% to close at 0.985.
The worst performers were Neoen SA (PA:NEOEN) which was down 3.73% to 39.24 in late trade, Eutelsat Communications SA (PA:ETL) which lost 3.18% to settle at 10.52 and Trigano SA (PA:TRIA) which was down 2.74% to 156.20 at the close.
Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the Paris Stock Exchange by 347 to 222 and 95 ended unchanged.
Shares in Societe Generale SA (PA:SOGN) rose to 52-week highs; rising 3.60% or 0.82 to 23.61. Shares in BNP Paribas SA (PA:BNPP) rose to 52-week highs; gaining 3.12% or 1.62 to 53.48. Shares in BIC (PA:BICP) rose to 52-week highs; gaining 9.94% or 5.35 to 59.20.
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 June delivery was down 0.26% or 4.55 to $1774.25 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in June rose 2.13% or 1.34 to hit $64.28 a barrel, while the July Brent oil contract rose 1.97% or 1.30 to trade at $67.17 a barrel.
EUR/USD was up 0.07% to 1.2099, while EUR/GBP rose 0.08% to 0.8694.
The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.08% at 90.817.