CAC 40 Up Nearly 2.5% As Stocks Rally On Positive Global Cues

(RTTNews) - French stocks are up sharply on Wednesday with investors reacting to U.S. President Donald Trump's softer tone toward Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, and his admission that the 145% tariffs on China are "very high" and they will come down substantially.

Investors are also digesting corporate earnings updates, and data on France's manufacturing and services sector activity.

The benchmark CAC 40 was up 176.78 points or 2.41% at 7,503.25 a few minutes ago.

Eurofins Scientific is up nearly 8.5% thanks to the company reporting a near 7% surge in first-quarter revenue at euro 1,767 million. Organic revenue growth was up 3.9% in the first-quarter.

Schneider Electric, ArcelorMittal, STMicroElectronics, Airbus, Saint Gobain and Kering are up 4 to 5%.

Stellantis, Societe Generale, BNP Paribas and LVMH are up 3.4 to 3.9%. Accor, Hermes International, TotalEnergies, Capgemini, Bureau Veritas, Legrand and Dassault Systemes are gaining 2 to 3%.

Publicis Groupe, Renault, Michelin, Sanofi, Pernod Ricard, Safran and Essilor are also up with strong gains.

Thales is down by about 2.5%. Engie is declining 1.7%, while Orange is down by about 0.8%.

Flash survey data from S&P Global showed France's private sector activity came under renewed pressure in April due to pronounced demand weakness in the domestic market and deteriorating confidence among service providers.

The HCOB composite output index registered 47.3 in April, down from 48.0 in March. The reading was expected to ease to 47.8. The score remained below the threshold 50.0 mark for the eight successive month indicating contraction in output.

The services Purchasing Managers' Index slid to 46.8 in April from 47.9 in the previous month. The score was also below forecast of 47.7. The factory PMI posted 48.2, down from 48.5 a month ago. The reading was expected to drop more sharply to 47.9.