CAC 40 Modest Higher On Strong PMI Data

(RTTNews) - After a slightly weak start, France's equity benchmark CAC 40 climbed modestly higher on Friday as oil prices fell and preliminary data from S&P Global showed an improvement in French private sector activity in the month of July.

Brent crude futures slipped to $96.40 a barrel before recovering to $97.70, but still remained nearly 3% down from previous close.

The CAC 40 was up 28.84 points or 0.35% at 9,327.93 a little while ago.

Dassault Systemes climbed 5.2%. Capgemini and ArcelorMittal moved up 2.7% and 2.5%, respectively.

Credit Agricole, Danone, BNP Paribas and Safran gained 1.4%-1.6%. Saint Gobain and Publicis Groupe both advanced by about 1%.

Euronext, Eurofins Scientific, Eiffage, L'Oreal, STMicroelectronics, Vinci, Veolia Environment, Engie and Schneider Electric posted modest gains.

Sanofi lost nearly 2% after it decided to stop the clinical development of amlitelimab for moderate-to-severe atopic dermatitis following mixed phase 3 trial results.

Carrefour shed about 4.2%. Kering, Unibail Rodamco, Michelin, Stellantis, Renault and Thales drifted lower by 0.6%-0.8%.

Data from S&P Global showed, France's S&P Global Flash Composite PMI rose to 49.6 in July from 47.2 in the previous month, signaling the softest contraction since the Middle East conflict began in February.

Services sector PMI rose to a seven-month high of 49.8 from 46.8 in June, supported by the first increase in demand since November. In contrast, manufacturing activity fell to 48.8 from 49.1, reflecting softer demand conditions.