Investing.com – France stocks were higher after the close on Wednesday, as gains in the Gas & Water, Utilities and Technology Hardware & Equipment sectors led shares higher.
At the close in Paris, the CAC 40 rose 0.31%, while the SBF 120 index gained 0.26%.
The best performers of the session on the CAC 40 were Vivendi (PARIS:VIV), which rose 2.02% or 0.46 points to trade at 22.97 at the close. Meanwhile, GDF Suez (PARIS:GSZ) added 2.00% or 0.36 points to end at 18.64 and Carrefour (PARIS:CARR) was up 1.76% or 0.55 points to 31.81 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Unibail-Rodamco (AMS:UNBP), which fell 1.96% or 4.85 points to trade at 243.05 at the close. Alstom (PARIS:ALSO) declined 0.74% or 0.21 points to end at 28.35 and Bouygues (PARIS:BOUY) was down 0.73% or 0.28 points to 37.92.
The top performers on the SBF 120 were Saft (PARIS:S1A) which rose 2.41% to 37.02, Technicolor (PARIS:TCH) which was up 2.06% to settle at 6.049 and Vivendi (PARIS:VIV) which gained 2.02% to close at 22.97.
The worst performers were Genfit (PARIS:GNFT) which was down 4.01% to 38.420 in late trade, Innate Pharma (PARIS:IPH) which lost 3.13% to settle at 14.880 and Casino Guichard (PARIS:CASP) which was down 2.59% to 74.39 at the close.
Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the Paris Stock Exchange by 476 to 420 and 63 ended unchanged.
The CAC 40 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of CAC 40 options, was down 2.45% to 18.93 a new 1-month low.
Gold for June delivery was up 0.22% or 2.70 to $1209.40 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in July rose 1.66% or 0.96 to hit $58.95 a barrel, while the July Brent oil contract rose 1.44% or 0.93 to trade at $64.94 a barrel.
EUR/USD was down 0.52% to 1.1092, while EUR/GBP fell 0.70% to 0.7134.
The US Dollar Index was up 0.33% at 95.68.