Investing.com – France stocks were higher after the close on Thursday, as gains in the Healthcare, Basic Materials and Oil & Gas sectors led shares higher.
At the close in Paris, the CAC 40 rose 1.25%, while the SBF 120 index climbed 1.11%.
The best performers of the session on the CAC 40 were Sanofi SA (PA:SASY), which rose 4.62% or 3.54 points to trade at 80.19 at the close. Meanwhile, Lafargeholcim Ltd (PA:LHN) added 2.51% or 1.28 points to end at 52.23 and ArcelorMittal SA (AS:ISPA) was up 2.30% or 0.169 points to 7.518 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Publicis Groupe SA (PA:PUBP), which fell 1.49% or 0.94 points to trade at 62.14 at the close. Pernod Ricard SA (PA:PERP) declined 1.29% or 1.40 points to end at 107.05 and Valeo SA (PA:VLOF) was down 1.12% or 0.64 points to 56.35.
The top performers on the SBF 120 were Eutelsat Communications (PA:ETL) which rose 8.17% to 17.75, Vallourec (PA:VLLP) which was up 6.14% to settle at 6.550 and Sanofi SA (PA:SASY) which gained 4.62% to close at 80.19.
The worst performers were Korian Medica SA (PA:KORI) which was down 5.16% to 25.920 in late trade, Nexans (PA:NEXS) which lost 4.31% to settle at 50.41 and Faurecia (PA:EPED) which was down 2.66% to 39.55 at the close.
Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the Paris Stock Exchange by 333 to 269 and 106 ended unchanged.
Shares in Sanofi SA (PA:SASY) rose to 52-week highs; gaining 4.62% or 3.54 to 80.19. Shares in Sanofi SA (PA:SASY) rose to 52-week highs; up 4.62% or 3.54 to 80.19.
The CAC 40 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of CAC 40 options, was down 11.35% to 14.42.
Gold Futures for April delivery was down 0.38% or 4.75 to $1234.75 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in March rose 1.36% or 0.71 to hit $53.05 a barrel, while the April Brent oil contract rose 0.89% or 0.49 to trade at $55.61 a barrel.
EUR/USD was down 0.33% to 1.0663, while EUR/GBP fell 0.22% to 0.8513.
The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.42% at 100.56.