Despite ongoing concerns regarding geopolitical tensions, French stocks advanced on Thursday as investors responded favourably to a series of corporate earnings announcements and revenue forecasts. The benchmark CAC 40 increased by 83.41 points, reflecting a rise of 0.99%, reaching a level of 8,491.68 recently.

Schneider Electric experienced an 8.5% increase following the announcement of a 30% rise in net income for the first half of the year compared to the previous year. Bouygues experienced an increase of 6.5% following the announcement of a net profit of 287 million euros for the first half, in contrast to 173 million euros during the same period the previous year.

• Societe Generale experienced an increase of 5.3%. Vinci experienced a rally of 3.7%. The French infrastructure and concessions giant surpassed expectations for first-half profit and free cash flow, primarily propelled by the robust trajectory of Energy Solutions.
• Eiffage, STMicroelectronics, L’Oreal, Hermes International, and Carrefour experienced gains ranging from 2.5% to 3.4%.
• Credit Agricole, Saint-Gobain, EssilorLuxottica, Michelin, LVMH and Engie experienced an increase ranging from 1.3% to 2%.
• Veolia Environment, a global leader in environmental services, experienced a 1.5% increase following the release of robust first-half results and an upward revision of its full-year profit forecast.
• Air France-KLM experienced an increase of nearly 3% following its submission of a bid to acquire a controlling stake in TAP Air Portugal.
• Sanofi experienced a decline of 5.2%. Stellantis experienced a decline of 4% following the announcement that its second quarter adjusted operating income fell short of expectations.
• Capgemini experienced a decline of 3.7% following the announcement of a significant decrease in first-half net profit by the IT services group. Hotel group Accor experienced a decline of 1.4% following the announcement of a slight decrease in revenue per available room for the second quarter.
• Bureau Veritas experienced a decline of 3.3%. Danone, Dassault Systemes, Orange, Kering, Airbus, Euronext, and TotalEnergies experienced declines ranging from 1% to 2.5%.

In economic news, data indicated that France’s economy experienced a rebound of 0.2% quarter-on-quarter in the second quarter, aligning with market expectations, after a revised contraction of 0.1% in the preceding period, based on preliminary estimates. On a yearly basis, GDP expanded 0.7% in the second quarter, a deceleration from a revised 0.8% in the first quarter, representing the slowest annual growth since the contraction in Q4 2020.