Investing.com – France stocks were higher after the close on Wednesday, as gains in the Technology Hardware & Equipment, Pharmaceuticals & Biotech and Electronic Equipment sectors led shares higher.
At the close in Paris, the CAC 40 gained 1.95%, while the SBF 120 index climbed 1.75%.
The best performers of the session on the CAC 40 were Alcatel-Lucent (PARIS:ALUA), which rose 4.93% or 0.171 points to trade at 3.638 at the close. Meanwhile, Peugeot SA (PARIS:PEUP) added 4.82% or 0.90 points to end at 19.48 and Sanofi (PARIS:SASY) was up 3.19% or 2.89 points to 93.53 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Kering (PARIS:PRTP), which fell 0.09% or 0.15 points to trade at 162.40 at the close. Cap Gemini (PARIS:CAPP) added 0.27% or 0.22 points to end at 81.40 and Technip (PARIS:TECF) was up 0.33% or 0.20 points to 61.51.
The top performers on the SBF 120 were Alcatel-Lucent (PARIS:ALUA) which rose 4.93% to 3.638, Peugeot SA (PARIS:PEUP) which was up 4.82% to settle at 19.48 and Aperam (AMS:APAM) which gained 3.45% to close at 39.18.
The worst performers were Television Francaise 1 SA (PARIS:TFFP) which was down 1.17% to 15.640 in late trade, Numericable Pr (PARIS:NUME) which lost 0.98% to settle at 53.770 and Maurel Et Prom (PARIS:MAUP) which was down 0.84% to 7.28 at the close.
Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the Paris Stock Exchange by 623 to 285 and 46 ended unchanged.
Shares in Peugeot SA (PARIS:PEUP) rose to 3-years highs; gaining 4.82% or 0.90 to 19.48. Shares in Peugeot SA (PARIS:PEUP) rose to 3-years highs; up 4.82% or 0.90 to 19.48.
The CAC 40 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of CAC 40 options, was down 6.68% to 19.65.
Gold for August delivery was down 0.08% or 0.90 to $1186.90 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in July fell 0.24% or 0.14 to hit $57.89 a barrel, while the July Brent oil contract fell 1.56% or 0.99 to trade at $62.73 a barrel.
EUR/USD was up 0.09% to 1.0882, while EUR/GBP rose 0.45% to 0.7100.
The US Dollar Index was up 0.14% at 97.52.