French stocks lead Europe higher on positive company results

30 Oct, 2014

LONDON: French stocks Alcatel Lucent , Technip and Renault led a rise in European shares early on Thursday after posting upbeat corporate updates.

Auto-maker Renault upgraded its European auto market growth forecast, telecoms equipment maker Alcatel-Lucent improved its gross profit margin in the latest quarter and oil services group Technip posted higher-than-expected operating profit.

The shares rose between 5 percent and 10 percent by 0808 GMT, with France's benchmark CAC 40 index up 0.9 percent.

The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index rose 0.7 percent to 1,328.88 point by 0809 GMT.

Copyright Reuters, 2014

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