(Updates with full report)
PARIS (Thomson Financial) - Share prices ended higher after three straight days of losses, as investors welcomed positive newsflow on French corporates, with EDF leading CAC-40 gains on the back of news the electricity giant will have an increased weighting in the MSCI global index as of Nov 30.
The CAC-40 index finished up 25.47 points or 0.45 pct at 5,710.09.
Among CAC-40 stocks, 24 closed higher, 1 closed flat and 15 closed lower. On the Matif, November CAC-40 futures were trading at 5,718.5.
On the broader indices, the SBF-80 index closed up 10.51 or 0.16 pct at 6,755.95 and the SBF-120 ended 16.91 or 0.41 pct higher at 4,155.87.
The euro was trading at 1.4557 usd, after reaching a new record high of 1.4569 earlier today.
The upbeat mood towards corporates encouraged investors to shrug off erratic early trading on Wall Street, where the market remained nervous about credit problems at major banks after Citigroup Inc.'s latest writedowns.
EDF ended up 2.61 eur or 3.19 pct at 84.52 after it emerged Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI) Barra is to give it a higher weighting on the MSCI Provisional Global Standard Indices as part of its semi-annual review. 'This should add support to the stock as index trackers will adjust,' one trader said, pointing to EDF's low available free float of around 11 pct.
Credit Suisse said in a note to clients that EDF is expected to gain some 4 basis points in weight, translating to 44.7 share buys or around 561 mln usd.
The utility is also due to report to nine-month sales on Thursday.
CGG Veritas, meanwhile, rose 8.82 or 4.04 pct to 227.12 as MSCI Barra announced that the geophysical services company will be added to its global indices on Nov 30.
Tech stocks also performed well, lifted by strong third quarter sales figures from Altran Technologies. The IT services group this morning reported 6.6 pct growth in sales for the period, driven by an improvement in its French business.
Altran shares closed 0.24 or 4.78 pct higher at 5.26. Back on the CAC-40, Capgemini benefited from the news, rising 1.12 or 2.69 pct to 42.73.
Another major bluechip climber was Sanofi-Aventis, which ended up 1.43 or 2.37 pct at 61.67 after surging in afternoon trading as it emerged the US Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) has rejected a generic version of Sanofi's blockbuster drug Lovenox developed by Momenta and Novartis.
According to Tim Race, analyst at ING Financial Markets, one of the big risks on Sanofi has been the potential threat to its key product, the anticoagulant Lovenox, which generated 2.4 bln eur in sales in 2006.
Elsewhere on the CAC-40, ArcelorMittal added 0.65 or 1.24 pct to 53.00 and Vallourec gained 3.77 or 1.98 pct to 194.37, spurred by a rebound in steel stocks in Asian markets and a positive sector note from Deutsche Bank, particularly concerning ThyssenKrupp.
In the auto sector, Peugeot added 0.64 or 1.06 pct to 61.12, helped by market speculation that BMW might be preparing a bid for the company.
'Because Peugeot has partnered with just about everybody in the industry, I'm not surprised these rumours come along from time to time,' said Michael Tyndall, analyst at Nomura International.
The consolidation talk also helped lift Renault, which rose 0.43 or 1.32 pct to 109.40.
Bank stocks remained under pressure, however, with midcap Natixis in the spotlight after Fitch warned of a possible ratings downgrade at its US subsidiary CIFG.
The ratings agency said there was a 'high' risk that CIFG might lose its AAA rating due to significant exposure to collateralised debt obligations (CDOs) backed with subprime loans.
'In a banking market where investors hate uncertainty more than anything else, this is clearly bad news,' a Paris-based dealer commented.
Natixis shares plunged 3.43 or 5.31 pct to 61.20. On the CAC-40, Credit Agricole fell 0.33 or 1.29 pct to 25.33, Societe Generale -- which reports third quarter results tomorrow morning -- lost 0.37 or 0.35 pct to 105.97, while insurer AXA gave up 0.33 or 1.12 pct to 29.19.
PPR ended the session as the biggest bluechip faller, down 1.86 or 1.41 pct at 129.68, as investors looked beyond consensus-beating third quarter sales to focus on a number of underlying negative trends, notably at Puma and in the luxury goods division.
Air France-KLM, meanwhile, continued to suffer from record oil prices, falling 0.31 or 1.28 pct to 23.87.
Elsewhere, chemicals group Rhodia starred by jumping 3.00 or 11.66 pct to 28.73 as the group reported better-than-expected free cash flow of 53 mln eur in the third quarter, up from a cash outflow of 10 mln a year ago.
Teleperformance climbed 1.59 or 5.99 pct to 28.15 after unveiling a 24.8 pct leap in third quarter sales, boosted by acquisitions, and confirming existing full-year guidance.
Boursorama was another significant riser, up 0.31 or 3.21 pct at 9.98, after reporting a 250 pct surge in third quarter net profit.
Among major fallers, Imerys dropped 3.43 or 5.31 pct to 61.20 after announcing lower than expected third quarter underlying profit figures. tfn.paris@thomson.com gt/lam COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Financial News Limited 2007. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Thomson Financial News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Financial News.
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