Investing.com – France equities were higher at the close on Friday, as gains in the Financials, Basic Materials and Oil & Gas Producers sectors propelled shares higher.
At the close in Paris, the CAC 40 gained 3.27% to hit a new 1-month high, while the SBF 120 index added 3.16%.
The biggest gainers of the session on the CAC 40 were ArcelorMittal SA (AS:ISPA), which rose 11.24% or 0.48 points to trade at 4.72 at the close. Credit Agricole SA (PA:CAGR) added 7.73% or 0.766 points to end at 10.670 and AXA SA (PA:AXAF) was up 6.19% or 1.26 points to 21.63 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Carrefour SA (PA:CARR), which added 0.72% or 0.17 points to trade at 23.85 in late trade. Alstom SA (PA:ALSO) added 1.09% or 0.23 points to end at 21.88 and Essilor International Compagnie Generale d`Optique SA (PA:ESSI) gained 1.27% or 1.40 points to 111.90.
The top performers on the SBF 120 were ArcelorMittal SA (AS:ISPA) which rose 11.24% to 4.72, Credit Agricole SA (PA:CAGR) which was up 7.73% to settle at 10.670 and Aperam (AS:APAM) which gained 7.58% to close at 32.92.
The worst performers were Biomerieux (PA:BIOX) which was down 1.01% to 99.88 in late trade, Elis Services SA (PA:ELIS) which lost 0.38% to settle at 15.84 and Gemalto (AS:GTO) which was down 0.23% to 65.31 at the close.
Advancing stocks outnumbered falling ones by 509 to 143 and 104 ended unchanged on the Paris Stock Exchange.
The CAC 40 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of CAC 40 options, was down 13.42% to 22.53 a new 1-month low.
In commodities trading, Gold for April delivery was down 1.02% or 13.00 to $1259.80 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in April rose 2.35% or 0.89 to hit $38.73 a barrel, while the May Brent oil contract rose 0.97% or 0.39 to trade at $40.44 a barrel.
EUR/USD was down 0.19% to 1.1157, while EUR/GBP fell 1.07% to 0.7743.
The US Dollar Index was down 0.05% at 96.14.