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French shares gain but banking, environment stocks falter

Business Materials 20 October 2008 21:25 (UTC +04:00)

French shares made strong gains on Monday, closing on the day's high, despite weakness among banking and environmental stocks, reports dpa.

The Paris Bourse's CAC 40 blue-chip index ended the day up 3.56 per cent, at 3,448.51, as advancing issues outpaced fallers by better than 3 to 1.

The winners were led by energy supplier GDF Suez, which was up 12.39 per cent, to 33.03 euros, while another utility, EDF, gained 8.25 per cent, to 44.83 euros.

The green group Veolia Environnement was the day's biggest loser, shedding 1.31 per cent, to finish at 18.43 euros, after issuing a profit warning because the economic slowdown was hurting its businesses.

The effect of the imminent recession on national environmental programs also dragged down the share price of Suez Environnment, which slid by 7.39 per cent, to 15.17 euros.

In addition, French bank Societe Generale was down 3.02 per cent, to 43.93 euros, on persistent rumours that it would require an injection of capital.

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