CAC 40 Gains As Investors Await Rate-cut Cues

(RTTNews) - French stocks traded slightly higher on Thursday ahead of a European Central Bank rate (ECB) decision later in the day.
The ECB is likely to keep interest rates unchanged, but the focus will be on whether President Christine Lagarde would signal interest-rate cuts in June, given easing price pressures and economic weakness.
The benchmark CAC 40 was up 21 points, or 0.3 percent, at 8,067 after finishing marginally lower the previous day.
French advertising company Publicis Groupe added 1.5 percent after its net revenue for the first quarter grew 4.9 percent, reflecting solid performance across all regions.
Societe Generale shares rallied 2.6 percent. The lender has signed a pact with Groupe BPCE to sell Societe Generale Equipment Finance, a professional equipment financing businesses, for 1.1 billion euros.