France shares higher at close of trade; CAC 40 up 0.02%

Investing.com – France equities were higher at the close on Thursday, as gains in the Basic Materials , Industrials and Technology sectors propelled shares higher.

At the close in Paris, the CAC 40 gained 0.02%, while the SBF 120 index climbed 0.02%.

The biggest gainers of the session on the CAC 40 were STMicroelectronics (PA: STM ), which rose 3.79% or 0.745 points to trade at 20.380 at the close. Carrefour SA (PA: CARR ) added 3.26% or 0.58 points to end at 18.26 and AXA SA (PA: AXAF ) was up 2.04% or 0.55 points to 27.25 in late trade.

Biggest losers included LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton SE (PA: LVMH ), which lost 1.49% or 3.60 points to trade at 238.75 in late trade. Compagnie Generale des Etablissements Michelin SCA (PA: MICP ) declined 1.39% or 1.80 points to end at 127.90 and Essilor International Compagnie Generale d’Optique SA (PA: ESSI ) shed 1.30% or 1.45 points to 110.10.

The top performers on the SBF 120 were Europcar Groupe SA (PA: EUCAR ) which rose 6.92% to 11.12, ALD SA (PA: ALDA ) which was up 4.24% to settle at 14.75 and STMicroelectronics (PA: STM ) which gained 3.79% to close at 20.380.

The worst performers were SES (PA: SESFd ) which was down 3.57% to 13.50 in late trade, Television Francaise 1 SA (PA: TFFP ) which lost 2.16% to settle at 12.210 and Ubisoft Entertainment (PA: UBIP ) which was down 2.13% to 68.100 at the close.

Declining stocks outnumbered rising ones by 336 to 285 and 78 ended unchanged on the Paris Stock Exchange.

The CAC 40 VIX , which measures the implied volatility of CAC 40 options, was up 0.54% to 11.31.

In commodities trading, Gold Futures for February delivery was down 0.59% or 7.90 to $1331.30 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in February rose 0.09% or 0.06 to hit $64.03 a barrel, while the March Brent oil contract fell 0.06% or 0.04 to trade at $69.34 a barrel.

EUR/USD was up 0.56% to 1.2254, while EUR/GBP unchanged 0.00% to 0.8813.

The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.49% at 90.21.