Investing.com – France stocks were higher after the close on Wednesday, as gains in the Banking, Financials and Leisure Goods sectors led shares higher.
At the close in Paris, the CAC 40 added 1.59%, while the SBF 120 index added 1.58%.
The best performers of the session on the CAC 40 were Societe Generale (PA:SOGN), which rose 8.99% or 2.59 points to trade at 31.41 at the close. Meanwhile, AXA SA (PA:AXAF) added 6.65% or 1.26 points to end at 20.30 and Lafargeholcim Ltd (PA:LHN) was up 6.01% or 1.86 points to 32.81 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Technip (PA:TECF), which fell 2.53% or 1.02 points to trade at 39.49 at the close. ArcelorMittal SA (AS:ISPA) declined 2.15% or 0.06 points to end at 2.82 and Total SA (PA:TOTF) was down 0.77% or 0.28 points to 36.52.
The top performers on the SBF 120 were Societe Generale (PA:SOGN) which rose 8.99% to 31.41, GTT (PA:GTT) which was up 7.99% to settle at 23.59 and AXA SA (PA:AXAF) which gained 6.65% to close at 20.30.
The worst performers were Neopost (PA:NPOS) which was down 4.78% to 17.33 in late trade, Coface (PA:COFA) which lost 3.59% to settle at 6.52 and Maurel Et Prom (PA:MAUP) which was down 2.78% to 2.45 at the close.
Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the Paris Stock Exchange by 475 to 200 and 102 ended unchanged.
Shares in ArcelorMittal SA (AS:ISPA) fell to 5-year lows; losing 2.15% or 0.06 to 2.82. Shares in Total SA (PA:TOTF) fell to 52-week lows; falling 0.77% or 0.28 to 36.52. Shares in Neopost (PA:NPOS) fell to 5-year lows; losing 4.78% or 0.87 to 17.33. Shares in Coface (PA:COFA) fell to all time lows; falling 3.59% or 0.24 to 6.52.
The CAC 40 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of CAC 40 options, was down 2.13% to 32.81.
Gold for April delivery was down 0.46% or 5.50 to $1193.10 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in March rose 0.55% or 0.15 to hit $28.09 a barrel, while the April Brent oil contract rose 3.56% or 1.08 to trade at $31.40 a barrel.
EUR/USD was down 0.52% to 1.1235, while EUR/GBP fell 0.58% to 0.7758.
The US Dollar Index was up 0.26% at 96.29.