French stock market outlook 2018
10:56, 27 December 2018
Like many European countries, surviving in a rapidly changing geopolitical environment and struggling against uncertainty, France appeared to perform as an investor favourite, expecting a new growth period in the upcoming years.
The “golden decade” of the French stock market
While the United Kingdom continues its movement toward leaving the European Union in an uneasy Brexit, Italy suffers from heavy loan debt, and Germany faces its own political dysfunction. With all these messy political and economic challenges across the leading European economies, the French stock market presents itself as relatively stable.
According to Vincent Deluard, global macro strategist at INTL FCStone, French stock market is valued rather attractively in comparison to other European countries. In spite of the recent tensions in France, caused by the imposed taxes and the ‘yellow vests’ riot, the CAC 40 Index continues its steady growth.
Here’s how it looks over the last month:
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Euronext Paris securities market
Formerly referred to as the Paris Bourse, the Euronext Paris is the major French stock exchange. In 2000, it merged with the Lisbon, Brussels and Amsterdam exchanges to form the Euronext, which is the 2nd largest European stock exchange after the UK’s London Stock Exchange (LSE).
French stocks are divided into 3 main sections:
The Premier Marche, including large French-based and international companies
The Second Marche, listing medium-sized businesses
The Nouveau Marche, listing fast-growing startups
The 4th market, Marche Libre, is nonregulated and serves for stock operations, which are not listed on any of the other three markets mentioned above.
The French major stock exchange calculates and manages a family of CAC indices, including CAC 40, CAC Next 20, CAC Mid 60 and CAC Small.
CAC 40 Stock market Index
Launched in 1987, the CAC 40 – Cotation Assistée en Continu – is a benchmark index of the French stock market, representing 40 largest and most actively traded companies listed on the Euronext Paris exchange.
The most widely used indicator of the Paris stock market, the CAC 40 index, is one of the major national indices of the Euronext stock exchange group.
You can trade the CAC 40 index live using contracts for difference (CFDs). Trading CAC 40 through CFDs allows you to take a short or a long position without having to deal with a traditional exchange. Instead, you trade directly with your CFD platform provider.
One of the most widely-traded indices on Euronext, CAC 40 may experience high volatility and provide good trading opportunities as it is composed of a wide range of liquid trading instruments.
Top 10 CAC 40 Market Movers in 2018 (as of 21 December 2018)
NAME | LATEST PRICE | HIGH | YEAR % |
Peugeot | 18.6 | 18.66 | 7.09% |
475.4 | 478.9 | 6.43% | |
200.7 | 201.7 | 7.23% | |
75.68 | 75.68 | 4.11% | |
100.15 | 102.25 | 13.49% | |
396.1 | 402.3 | 10.94% | |
142.3 | 144.1 | 10.83% | |
102.65 | 103.6 | 21.68% |
Historically, the CAC 40 Index reached an all-time high of 6,922.33 in September 2000 at the peak of the dot-com bubble. The CAC 40’s record low of 893.82 happened in January 1988.
On Friday 21 December 2018, the French stock index increased 2 points or 0.04% up to 4,694 from 4,692 in the previous trading session. To follow the most recent ups and downs of the CAC 40 Index, check out our live CAC 40 price chart.
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