Investing.com – France equities were higher at the close on Wednesday, as gains in the Consumer Goods, Healthcare and Basic Materials sectors propelled shares higher.
At the close in Paris, the CAC 40 gained 0.49%, while the SBF 120 index gained 0.43%.
The biggest gainers of the session on the CAC 40 were Lafargeholcim Ltd (PA:LHN), which rose 2.26% or 0.86 points to trade at 38.99 at the close. Technip (PA:TECF) added 2.12% or 1.01 points to end at 48.97 and Publicis Groupe SA (PA:PUBP) was up 1.94% or 1.12 points to 58.82 in late trade.
Biggest losers included ArcelorMittal SA (AS:ISPA), which lost 1.75% or 0.07 points to trade at 4.21 in late trade. Carrefour SA (PA:CARR) declined 1.52% or 0.39 points to end at 25.34 and Engie SA (PA:ENGIE) shed 1.38% or 0.19 points to 13.59.
The top performers on the SBF 120 were Lafargeholcim Ltd (PA:LHN) which rose 2.26% to 38.99, Teleperformance (PA:ROCH) which was up 2.20% to settle at 75.26 and Technip (PA:TECF) which gained 2.12% to close at 48.97.
The worst performers were Vallourec (PA:VLLP) which was down 5.89% to 7.08 in late trade, CGG (PA:GEPH) which lost 4.00% to settle at 0.72 and Euronext (PA:ENX) which was down 2.39% to 35.58 at the close.
Advancing stocks outnumbered falling ones by 386 to 284 and 101 ended unchanged on the Paris Stock Exchange.
The CAC 40 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of CAC 40 options, was up 0.81% to 26.91.
In commodities trading, Gold for April delivery was down 0.48% or 6.10 to $1256.80 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in April rose 4.25% or 1.55 to hit $38.05 a barrel, while the May Brent oil contract rose 3.38% or 1.34 to trade at $40.99 a barrel.
EUR/USD was up 0.16% to 1.1028, while EUR/GBP rose 0.05% to 0.7750.
The US Dollar Index was down 0.20% at 96.97.