Investing.com – France stocks were lower after the close on Friday, as losses in the Gas & Water, Utilities and Pharmaceuticals & Biotech sectors led shares lower.
At the close in Paris, the CAC 40 lost 0.57%, while the SBF 120 index fell 0.54%.
The best performers of the session on the CAC 40 were Lafarge (PARIS:LAFP), which rose 0.76% or 0.46 points to trade at 61.04 at the close. Meanwhile, Alcatel-Lucent (PARIS:ALUA) added 0.64% or 0.021 points to end at 3.289 and Vinci SA (PARIS:SGEF) was up 0.38% or 0.20 points to 53.30 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Technip (PARIS:TECF), which fell 1.86% or 1.03 points to trade at 54.43 at the close. GDF Suez (PARIS:GSZ) declined 1.47% or 0.25 points to end at 16.72 and Vivendi (PARIS:VIV) was down 1.35% or 0.31 points to 22.66.
The top performers on the SBF 120 were Faurecia (PARIS:EPED) which rose 1.99% to 38.14, Montupet SA (PARIS:MNTP) which was up 1.69% to settle at 66.030 and Havas (PARIS:HAVA) which gained 1.22% to close at 7.490.
The worst performers were Solocal Group (PARIS:LOCAL) which was down 3.40% to 0.426 in late trade, Saft (PARIS:S1A) which lost 2.92% to settle at 34.26 and Maurel Et Prom (PARIS:MAUP) which was down 2.70% to 6.60 at the close.
Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the Paris Stock Exchange by 554 to 236 and 61 ended unchanged.
Shares in Maurel Et Prom (PARIS:MAUP) fell to 5-year lows; falling 2.70% or 0.18 to 6.60.
The CAC 40 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of CAC 40 options, was up 3.80% to 31.81 a new 52-week high.
Gold for August delivery was up 0.34% or 3.90 to $1167.40 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in August fell 2.46% or 1.40 to hit $55.53 a barrel, while the August Brent oil contract fell 2.73% or 1.70 to trade at $60.38 a barrel.
EUR/USD was up 0.13% to 1.1098, while EUR/GBP rose 0.37% to 0.7127.
The US Dollar Index was down 0.05% at 96.23.