Strong Earnings Lift French Stocks Despite Geopolitical Headwinds

(RTTNews) - Despite lingering worries about geopolitical tensions, French stocks climbed higher on Thursday as investors reacted positively to a slew of corporate earnings announcements and revenue guidance.

The benchmark CAC 40 was up 83.41 points or 0.99% at 8,491.68 a little while ago.

Schneider Electric surged 8.5% after reporting a 30% jump in first-half net income compared to a year ago.

Bouygues moved up 6.5% after reporting a net profit of 287 million euros for the first-half, compared to 173 million euros a year earlier.

Societe Generale gained 5.3%. Vinci rallied 3.7%. The French infrastructure and concessions giant beat first-half profit and free cash flow estimates, driven in particular by the dynamitic trajectory of Energy Solutions.

Eiffage, STMicroelectronics, L'Oreal, Hermes International and Carrefour gained 2.5%-3.4%.

Credit Agricole, Saint-Gobain, EssilorLuxottica, Michelin, LVMH and Engie moved up 1.3%-2%.

Veolia Environment, a global leader in environmental services, climbed 1.5% after delivering solid first-half results and raising its full-year profit outlook.

Air France-KLM climbed nearly 3% after submitting bid to acquire a controlling stake in TAP Air Portugal.

Sanofi shed 5.2%. Stellantis fell 4% after second quarter operating adjusted operating income came in below estimates.

Capgemini dropped 3.7% after the IT services group reported a sharp fall in first-half net profit. Hotel group Accor dropped 1.4% after reporting a marginal drop in Q2 revenue per available room.

Bureau veritas drifted down 3.3%. Danone, Dassault Systemes, Orange, Kering, Airbus, Euronext and TotalEnergies lost 1%-2.5%.

In economic news, Data from INSEE showed France's economy rebounded by 0.2% quarter-on-quarter in the second-quarter, in line with market expectations, following a revised 0.1% contraction in the previous period, according to preliminary estimates.

On a yearly basis, GDP expanded 0.7% in the second-quarter, slowing from a revised 0.8% in the first-quarter and marking the slowest annual expansion since the contraction in Q4 2020.