Investing.com – France stocks were lower after the close on Wednesday, as losses in the Basic Materials, Oil & Gas and Financials sectors led shares lower.
At the close in Paris, the CAC 40 declined 1.88%, while the SBF 120 index declined 1.82%.
The best performers of the session on the CAC 40 were Valeo SA (PA:VLOF), which fell 0.30% or 0.12 points to trade at 38.44 at the close. Meanwhile, Kering SA (PA:PRTP) fell 0.38% or 0.55 points to end at 143.65 and Sodexo (PA:EXHO) was down 0.45% or 0.44 points to 96.46 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Air Liquide SA (PA:AIRP), which fell 4.17% or 3.90 points to trade at 89.60 at the close. AXA SA (PA:AXAF) declined 3.89% or 0.66 points to end at 16.30 and Carrefour SA (PA:CARR) was down 3.27% or 0.72 points to 21.30.
The top performers on the SBF 120 were Ubisoft Entertainment (PA:UBIP) which rose 1.22% to 33.260, Eutelsat Communications (PA:ETL) which was up 1.04% to settle at 16.48 and Alten (PA:LTEN) which gained 1.01% to close at 52.21.
The worst performers were Europcar Groupe SA (PA:EUCAR) which was down 5.43% to 6.88 in late trade, Air France KLM SA (PA:AIRF) which lost 5.00% to settle at 5.665 and Numericable SFR SA (PA:NUME) which was down 4.83% to 20.800 at the close.
Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the Paris Stock Exchange by 561 to 121 and 86 ended unchanged.
Shares in AXA SA (PA:AXAF) fell to 52-week lows; losing 3.89% or 0.66 to 16.30. Shares in Carrefour SA (PA:CARR) fell to 52-week lows; down 3.27% or 0.72 to 21.30. Shares in Europcar Groupe SA (PA:EUCAR) fell to all time lows; down 5.43% or 0.40 to 6.88. Shares in Numericable SFR SA (PA:NUME) fell to 52-week lows; falling 4.83% or 1.055 to 20.800.
The CAC 40 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of CAC 40 options, was up 6.14% to 26.43.
Gold for August delivery was up 0.64% or 8.65 to $1367.35 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in August rose 1.05% or 0.49 to hit $47.09 a barrel, while the September Brent oil contract rose 0.77% or 0.37 to trade at $48.33 a barrel.
EUR/USD was up 0.09% to 1.1086, while EUR/GBP rose 0.76% to 0.8569.
The US Dollar Index was down 0.05% at 96.22.