CAC 40 Up Nearly 1%

(RTTNews) - French stocks are up in positive territory Wednesday morning with markets reacting positively news about U.S. and Ukraine agreeing on a minerals deal, which could help ease ongoing tensions between the two countries. Investors are also digesting some earnings updates.

The draft minerals deal to turn over Kyiv's revenue from some of its mineral resources to Washington, says that the United States wants Ukraine to be "free, sovereign and secure."

The deal is key for Ukraine in securing continued U.S. support for its fight against Russia.

According to reports, the agreement could be signed as early as Friday when Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky visits Washington to meet his American counterpart.

The benchmark CAC 40 was up 79.43 or nearly 1% at 8,130.50 a few minutes ago.

ArcelorMittal is climbing up nearly 4%. Kering is up 3.2%, while Schneider Electric, LVMH and Saint Gobain are rising 2.7 to 3%.

Legrand, L'Oreal is rising 1.6%, whle Safran, Pernod Ricard, Teleperformance, Michelin, Accor and Airbus Group are up 1 to 2%.

Danone is gaining 1% after the company reported fiscal 2024 net income of 2.02 billion euros compared to 881 million euros in the previous year. Earnings per share was 3.13 euros compared to 1.36 euros.

Thales, Veolia Environment, Dassault Systemes, Eurofins Scientific, AXA and Vinci are also notably higher.

Stellantis is declining more than 4% after reporting a 70% drop in full-year earnings to 5.52 billion euros, from 2023 earnings of 18.63 billion euros. Earnings per share were 1.84 euros, down 69% from 5.94 euros a year ago.

Stellantis' adjusted earnings per share were 2.48 euros, compared to prior year's 6.42 euros. Adjusted operating income fell 64% from last year to 8.65 billion euros, and adjusted operating income margin was down 730 basis points year-over-year to 5.5%.

STMicroElectronics is down nearly 1%. Orange, Carrefour, Capgemini, Unibail Rodamco and Edenred are down 0.3 to 0.7%.