France shares lower at close of trade; CAC 40 down 1.93%

Investing.com – France equities were lower at the close on Thursday, as losses in the Utilities , Basic Materials and Financials sectors propelled shares lower.

At the close in Paris, the CAC 40 declined 1.93% to hit a new 1-month low, while the SBF 120 index lost 1.95%.

The biggest gainers of the session on the CAC 40 were Sodexo SA (PA: EXHO ), which rose 0.05% or 0.05 points to trade at 100.30 at the close. Orange SA (PA: ORAN ) fell 0.47% or 0.07 points to end at 13.88 and Carrefour SA (PA: CARR ) was down 0.65% or 0.12 points to 17.50 in late trade.

Biggest losers included ArcelorMittal SA (AS: MT ), which lost 6.09% or 1.082 points to trade at 16.688 in late trade. STMicroelectronics NV (PA: STM ) declined 5.01% or 0.780 points to end at 14.780 and Credit Agricole SA (PA: CAGR ) shed 4.54% or 0.550 points to 11.565.

The top performers on the SBF 120 were Eutelsat Communications SA (PA: ETL ) which rose 1.69% to 15.96, Eurofins Scientific SE (PA: EUFI ) which was up 0.56% to settle at 395.80 and SES (PA: SESFd ) which gained 0.46% to close at 15.21.

The worst performers were Casino Guichard Perrachon SA (PA: CASP ) which was down 6.76% to 33.63 in late trade, ArcelorMittal SA (AS: MT ) which lost 6.09% to settle at 16.688 and Eurazeo (PA: EURA ) which was down 6.04% to 64.55 at the close.

Declining stocks outnumbered rising ones by 483 to 92 and 77 ended unchanged on the Paris Stock Exchange.

The CAC 40 VIX , which measures the implied volatility of CAC 40 options, was up 12.36% to 18.81 a new 3-month high.

In commodities trading, Gold Futures for June delivery was up 0.25% or 3.15 to $1284.55 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in June fell 0.56% or 0.35 to hit $61.77 a barrel, while the July Brent oil contract fell 0.13% or 0.09 to trade at $70.28 a barrel.

EUR/USD was up 0.23% to 1.1217, while EUR/GBP rose 0.14% to 0.8613.

The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.17% at 97.227.