Investing.com – France stocks were higher after the close on Thursday, as gains in the Healthcare, Utilities and Basic Materials sectors led shares higher.
At the close in Paris, the CAC 40 gained 0.15%, while the SBF 120 index gained 0.13%.
The best performers of the session on the CAC 40 were ArcelorMittal SA (AS:MT), which rose 3.10% or 0.565 points to trade at 18.770 at the close. Meanwhile, Sanofi SA (PA:SASY) added 2.41% or 2.09 points to end at 88.65 and Schneider Electric SE (PA:SCHN) was up 2.10% or 1.45 points to 70.43 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Bouygues SA (PA:BOUY), which fell 1.36% or 0.54 points to trade at 38.90 at the close. Sodexo (PA:EXHO) declined 1.14% or 1.35 points to end at 117.20 and Danone SA (PA:DANO) was down 0.97% or 0.66 points to 67.65.
The top performers on the SBF 120 were Vallourec (PA:VLLP) which rose 4.14% to 5.557, DBV Technologies (PA:DBV) which was up 3.74% to settle at 64.940 and Euler Hermes (PA:ELER) which gained 3.50% to close at 103.50.
The worst performers were Altran Technologies (PA:ALTT) which was down 5.35% to 15.205 in late trade, Alten (PA:LTEN) which lost 4.65% to settle at 75.25 and STMicroelectronics (PA:STM) which was down 2.44% to 13.420 at the close.
Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the Paris Stock Exchange by 308 to 298 and 96 ended unchanged.
Shares in Euler Hermes (PA:ELER) rose to 52-week highs; gaining 3.50% or 3.50 to 103.50.
The CAC 40 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of CAC 40 options, was down 1.30% to 14.08.
Gold Futures for August delivery was up 0.52% or 6.54 to $1252.34 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in August rose 1.58% or 0.67 to hit $43.20 a barrel, while the August Brent oil contract rose 1.78% or 0.80 to trade at $45.62 a barrel.
EUR/USD was down 0.14% to 1.1152, while EUR/GBP fell 0.11% to 0.8803.
The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.04% at 97.26.