Investing.com – France equities were higher at the close on Thursday, as gains in the Utilities, Technology and Financials sectors propelled shares higher.
At the close in Paris, the CAC 40 rose 0.06% to hit a new 52-week high, while the SBF 120 index added 0.05%.
The biggest gainers of the session on the CAC 40 were Engie SA (PA:ENGIE), which rose 8.24% or 0.96 points to trade at 12.61 at the close. Veolia Environnement VE SA (PA:VIE) added 2.60% or 0.410 points to end at 16.190 and Cap Gemini SA (PA:CAPP) was up 1.37% or 1.13 points to 83.37 in late trade.
Biggest losers included ArcelorMittal SA (AS:ISPA), which lost 2.11% or 0.184 points to trade at 8.556 in late trade. Legrand SA (PA:LEGD) declined 1.14% or 0.62 points to end at 53.61 and Compagnie de Saint Gobain SA (PA:SGOB) shed 1.10% or 0.51 points to 45.59.
The top performers on the SBF 120 were Genfit (PA:GNFT) which rose 29.64% to 27.600, Engie SA (PA:ENGIE) which was up 8.24% to settle at 12.61 and JC Decaux SA (PA:JCDX) which gained 4.31% to close at 32.03.
The worst performers were Nexans (PA:NEXS) which was down 2.18% to 48.01 in late trade, ArcelorMittal SA (AS:ISPA) which lost 2.11% to settle at 8.556 and Vallourec (PA:VLLP) which was down 1.96% to 5.251 at the close.
Declining stocks outnumbered rising ones by 334 to 280 and 100 ended unchanged on the Paris Stock Exchange.
The CAC 40 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of CAC 40 options, was down 0.46% to 15.12.
In commodities trading, Gold Futures for April delivery was down 1.39% or 17.35 to $1232.65 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in April fell 1.95% or 1.05 to hit $52.78 a barrel, while the May Brent oil contract fell 1.92% or 1.08 to trade at $55.28 a barrel.
EUR/USD was down 0.36% to 1.0509, while EUR/GBP fell 0.09% to 0.8569.
The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.41% at 102.16.