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 gained 0.78%, while the SBF 120 index climbed 0.74%.
The best performers of the session on the CAC 40 were EssilorLuxottica SA (PA:ESLX), which rose 2.92% or 3.75 points to trade at 132.30 at the close. Meanwhile, Schneider Electric SE (PA:SCHN) added 2.69% or 2.02 points to end at 77.14 and Bouygues SA (PA:BOUY) was up 2.33% or 0.84 points to 36.89 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Thales (PA:TCFP), which fell 1.03% or 1.02 points to trade at 97.96 at the close. Engie SA (PA:ENGIE) declined 0.82% or 0.12 points to end at 14.54 and Sanofi SA (PA:SASY) was down 0.35% or 0.29 points to 81.85.
The top performers on the SBF 120 were Genfit (PA:GNFT) which rose 2.97% to 12.820, EssilorLuxottica SA (PA:ESLX) which was up 2.92% to settle at 132.30 and Soitec SA (PA:SOIT) which gained 2.79% to close at 90.350.
The worst performers were Compagnie Plastic Omnium SA (PA:PLOF) which was down 8.86% to 20.88 in late trade, DBV Technologies (PA:DBV) which lost 7.51% to settle at 12.570 and Virbac SA (PA:VIRB) which was down 2.37% to 206.00 at the close.
Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the Paris Stock Exchange by 315 to 257 and 92 ended unchanged.
Shares in Bouygues SA (PA:BOUY) rose to 52-week highs; rising 2.33% or 0.84 to 36.89.
The CAC 40 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of CAC 40 options, was down 3.83% to 18.25.
Gold Futures for December delivery was up 0.39% or 5.80 to $1509.70 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in November rose 1.06% or 0.56 to hit $53.19 a barrel, while the December Brent oil contract rose 1.01% or 0.59 to trade at $58.83 a barrel.
EUR/USD was up 0.17% to 1.0973, while EUR/GBP rose 0.33% to 0.8992.
The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.02% at 98.843.