Investing.com – France stocks were higher after the close on Friday, as gains in the Utilities, Consumer Goods and Healthcare sectors led shares higher.
At the close in Paris, the CAC 40 rose 1.04% to hit a new 3-months high, while the SBF 120 index added 0.94%.
The best performers of the session on the CAC 40 were STMicroelectronics NV (PA:STM), which rose 4.99% or 0.695 points to trade at 14.620 at the close. Meanwhile, Atos SE (PA:ATOS) added 3.25% or 2.72 points to end at 86.40 and Valeo SA (PA:VLOF) was up 2.98% or 0.79 points to 27.34 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Carrefour SA (PA:CARR), which fell 1.28% or 0.22 points to trade at 16.93 at the close. Publicis Groupe SA (PA:PUBP) declined 0.28% or 0.14 points to end at 50.36 and TechnipFMC PLC (PA:FTI) was down 0.15% or 0.03 points to 20.42.
The top performers on the SBF 120 were STMicroelectronics NV (PA:STM) which rose 4.99% to 14.620, Korian Medica SA (PA:KORI) which was up 3.96% to settle at 36.260 and Elior Group (PA:ELIOR) which gained 3.88% to close at 13.11.
The worst performers were Casino Guichard Perrachon SA (PA:CASP) which was down 6.54% to 40.99 in late trade, Mercialys SA (PA:MERY) which lost 3.23% to settle at 12.60 and Vallourec (PA:VLLP) which was down 2.99% to 2.174 at the close.
Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the Paris Stock Exchange by 343 to 234 and 90 ended unchanged.
Shares in Korian Medica SA (PA:KORI) rose to 5-year highs; gaining 3.96% or 1.380 to 36.260.
The CAC 40 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of CAC 40 options, was down 4.35% to 13.03.
Gold Futures for April delivery was up 0.54% or 7.05 to $1302.15 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in April fell 0.32% or 0.19 to hit $58.42 a barrel, while the May Brent oil contract fell 0.34% or 0.23 to trade at $67.00 a barrel.
EUR/USD was up 0.16% to 1.1321, while EUR/GBP fell 0.11% to 0.8525.
The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.19% at 96.585.