Investing.com – France stocks were lower after the close on Friday, as losses in the Aerospace & Defense, Pharmaceuticals & Biotech and Healthcare sectors led shares lower.
At the close in Paris, the CAC 40 fell 2.53%, while the SBF 120 index declined 2.33%.
The best performers of the session on the CAC 40 were Alcatel-Lucent (PARIS:ALUA), which fell 0.44% or 0.016 points to trade at 3.643 at the close. Meanwhile, Pernod Ricard (PARIS:PERP) fell 0.62% or 0.70 points to end at 112.55 and Technip (PARIS:TECF) was down 0.81% or 0.49 points to 60.09 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Airbus Group (PARIS:AIR), which fell 4.08% or 2.64 points to trade at 62.00 at the close. AXA SA (PARIS:AXAF) declined 3.50% or 0.83 points to end at 22.91 and Safran (PARIS:SAF) was down 3.48% or 2.32 points to 64.41.
The top performers on the SBF 120 were Elior (PARIS:ELIOR) which rose 1.53% to 16.61, Hermes International SCA (PARIS:HRMS) which was up 1.47% to settle at 355.65 and GTT (PARIS:GTT) which gained 1.24% to close at 56.23.
The worst performers were Soitec (PARIS:SOIT) which was down 6.02% to 0.780 in late trade, Euler Hermes (PARIS:ELER) which lost 4.18% to settle at 100.80 and Airbus Group (PARIS:AIR) which was down 4.08% to 62.00 at the close.
Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the Paris Stock Exchange by 675 to 220 and 60 ended unchanged.
Shares in Hermes International SCA (PARIS:HRMS) rose to all time highs; rising 1.47% or 5.15 to 355.65.
The CAC 40 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of CAC 40 options, was up 7.94% to 22.48.
Gold for August delivery was up 0.06% or 0.70 to $1189.50 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in July rose 3.57% or 2.06 to hit $59.74 a barrel, while the July Brent oil contract rose 3.64% or 2.27 to trade at $64.86 a barrel.
EUR/USD was up 0.28% to 1.0979, while EUR/GBP rose 0.65% to 0.7194.
The US Dollar Index was down 0.08% at 97.05.