Investing.com – France stocks were higher after the close on Wednesday, as gains in the Utilities, Basic Materials and Oil & Gas sectors led shares higher.
At the close in Paris, the CAC 40 gained 0.45% to hit a new 52-week high, while the SBF 120 index gained 0.40%.
The best performers of the session on the CAC 40 were TechnipFMC PLC (PA:FTI), which rose 4.58% or 1.33 points to trade at 30.39 at the close. Meanwhile, Engie SA (PA:ENGIE) added 2.95% or 0.38 points to end at 13.10 and Vivendi SA (PA:VIV) was up 1.52% or 0.27 points to 17.68 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Accor SA (PA:ACCP), which fell 0.91% or 0.35 points to trade at 38.80 at the close. Societe Generale (PA:SOGN) declined 0.79% or 0.38 points to end at 47.20 and Essilor International Compagnie Generale d’Optique SA (PA:ESSI) was down 0.75% or 0.85 points to 113.00.
The top performers on the SBF 120 were Neopost (PA:NPOS) which rose 12.20% to 34.22, Vallourec (PA:VLLP) which was up 5.01% to settle at 5.954 and TechnipFMC PLC (PA:FTI) which gained 4.58% to close at 30.39.
The worst performers were Soitec SA (PA:SOIT) which was down 4.79% to 39.950 in late trade, Eutelsat Communications (PA:ETL) which lost 2.29% to settle at 19.83 and Air France KLM SA (PA:AIRF) which was down 1.96% to 7.059 at the close.
Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the Paris Stock Exchange by 342 to 268 and 101 ended unchanged.
Shares in Neopost (PA:NPOS) rose to 52-week highs; rising 12.20% or 3.72 to 34.22.
The CAC 40 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of CAC 40 options, was up 0.82% to 15.91.
Gold Futures for April delivery was down 0.36% or 4.55 to $1251.05 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in May rose 2.03% or 0.98 to hit $49.35 a barrel, while the June Brent oil contract rose 1.87% or 0.96 to trade at $52.38 a barrel.
EUR/USD was down 0.56% to 1.0753, while EUR/GBP fell 0.16% to 0.8669.
The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.39% at 99.92.