French stocks experienced a notable uptick on Monday morning, continuing their strong performance after a promising opening. This positive trend comes as investors respond to favorable data indicating an improvement in the French services sector for December.
The CAC 40 index, serving as the benchmark, is currently up by 50.18 points, or 0.69%, positioned at 7,332.40.
According to data from S&P Global, the HCOB France Composite PMI for December 2024 was revised upward to 47.5, surpassing the initial estimate of 46.7 and improving from the ten-month low of 45.9 recorded in November. Additionally, the HCOB France Services PMI advanced to 49.3 for the same month, exceeding the preliminary estimate of 48.2 and marking an increase from November’s 46.9.
Conversely, the manufacturing sector faced a significant contraction in December, with the index coming in at 41.9, which was a decline from the earlier estimate of 43.1.
In the stock market, STMicroElectronics is showing robust growth, climbing nearly 5.5% after Taiwan's Foxconn reported stronger-than-expected fourth-quarter revenues. Dassault Systemes rose by 3.5%, while Schneider Electric, Hermes International, and Legrand have each increased between 2% and 2.5%.
Other notable gains include LVMH, Stellantis, Capgemini, Kering, Eurofins Scientific, Teleperformance, Société Générale, Renault, BNP Paribas, and Saint Gobain, all advancing between 1% and 2%.
On the downside, Safran, Publicis Groupe, Thales, and Engie fell by 1% to 1.2%. Meanwhile, Airbus Group, Danone, ArcelorMittal, AXA, Accor, Bouygues, and Carrefour are experiencing modest declines.
