On Thursday, CAC 40 hovered near its all-time peak as investors reacted to corporate earnings reports and data showing a rise in industrial confidence for October. The benchmark index increased by 34.10 points, or 0.43%, reaching 8,240.97. Kering saw a surge of over 10% following a smaller-than-expected decline in third-quarter sales, while TotalEnergies rose 2.1% and L’Oreal gained nearly 2%. Thales increased by 1.5%, and Hermes International, Safran, and Bureau Veritas posted gains ranging from 1.1% to 1.2%.

Other notable increases included moderate gains for BNP Paribas, Societe Generale, Legrand, LVMH, Bouygues, and Michelin. Orange Group rose 0.5%, reporting a 3.7% increase in EBITDA to 3.437 billion euros on a comparable basis for Q3 2025, alongside a 0.7% improvement in margin. These gains highlight investor optimism amid positive corporate performance and stronger industrial confidence.

Conversely, some companies experienced declines following disappointing forecasts or financial results. Dassault Systèmes dropped over 15% after revising its full-year revenue growth outlook, while STMicroElectronics fell nearly 9% due to a weaker-than-expected Q4 revenue forecast. Renault declined 1.7% despite exceeding Q3 revenue expectations, and Sodexo fell more than 7%, reporting net profit from continuing operations of €695 million (€4.76 per share), down from €738 million (€5.04 per share) the previous year.

Additional declines were seen in Carrefour, down 3.4% after confirming full-year targets, Edenred, down around 3%, and Pernod Ricard, down 1.2%. Stellantis and Eurofins Scientific also saw reductions of 1.1% and 1%, respectively. Amid these mixed results, a report showed the manufacturing business climate indicator rising to 101 in October from 97 in September, surpassing its long-term average of 100 for the first time since early March 2024.