Investing.com – France equities were higher at the close on Wednesday, as gains in the Industrial Engineering, Technology Hardware & Equipment and Gas & Water sectors propelled shares higher.
At the close in Paris, the CAC 40 added 0.15%, while the SBF 120 index added 0.02%.
The biggest gainers of the session on the CAC 40 were Alcatel-Lucent (PARIS:ALUA), which rose 3.58% or 0.111 points to trade at 3.209 at the close. BNP Paribas Act. A (PARIS:BNPP) added 1.80% or 0.99 points to end at 56.03 and Alstom (PARIS:ALSO) was up 1.67% or 0.47 points to 28.27 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Solvay (BRU:SOLB), which lost 3.69% or 4.95 points to trade at 129.15 in late trade. Unibail-Rodamco (AMS:UNBP) declined 2.64% or 6.35 points to end at 234.05 and Kering (PARIS:PRTP) shed 2.54% or 4.20 points to 161.35.
The top performers on the SBF 120 were Aperam (AMS:APAM) which rose 12.57% to 38.30, Alcatel-Lucent (PARIS:ALUA) which was up 3.58% to settle at 3.209 and Genfit (PARIS:GNFT) which gained 3.39% to close at 39.700.
The worst performers were Gemalto (AMS:GTO) which was down 3.73% to 80.09 in late trade, Solvay (BRU:SOLB) which lost 3.69% to settle at 129.15 and Klepierre (PARIS:LOIM) which was down 3.15% to 41.47 at the close.
Declining stocks outnumbered rising ones by 505 to 406 and 52 ended unchanged on the Paris Stock Exchange.
The CAC 40 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of CAC 40 options, was down 4.87% to 22.71.
In commodities trading, Gold for June delivery was down 0.35% or 4.20 to $1189.00 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in June rose 1.23% or 0.74 to hit $61.14 a barrel, while the June Brent oil contract rose 0.85% or 0.57 to trade at $68.09 a barrel.
EUR/USD was up 1.33% to 1.1335, while EUR/GBP rose 1.01% to 0.7440.
The US Dollar Index was down 1.06% at 94.26.