Nyse Order Imbalance 770597.0 Shares On Sell Side

Investing.com – France stocks were higher after the close on Friday, as gains in the Technology, Healthcare and Financials sectors led shares higher.

At the close in Paris, the CAC 40 rose 0.68%, while the SBF 120 index added 0.63%.

The best performers of the session on the CAC 40 were Eurofins Scientific SE (EPA:EUFI), which rose 2.93% or 1.94 points to trade at 68.14 at the close. Meanwhile, Societe Generale SA (EPA:SOGN) added 2.79% or 2.00 points to end at 73.80 and Sanofi SA (EPA:SASY) was up 2.75% or 2.12 points to 79.20 in late trade.

The worst performers of the session were Legrand SA (EPA:LEGD), which fell 0.66% or 0.90 points to trade at 135.00 at the close. Carrefour SA (EPA:CARR) declined 0.50% or 0.07 points to end at 13.84 and Euronext (EPA:ENX) was down 0.42% or 0.50 points to 117.90.

The top performers on the SBF 120 were Alten SA (EPA:LTEN) which rose 16.75% to 82.60, SEB SA (EPA:SEBF) which was up 5.59% to settle at 47.64 and Sopra Steria Group SA (EPA:SOPR) which gained 5.18% to close at 154.20.

The worst performers were Ubisoft Entertainment (EPA:UBIP) which was down 7.14% to 4.37 in late trade, Nexity (EPA:NEXI) which lost 4.60% to settle at 9.55 and Eramet SA (EPA:ERMT) which was down 3.15% to 73.80 at the close.

Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the Paris Stock Exchange by 247 to 235 and 87 ended unchanged.

Shares in Societe Generale SA (EPA:SOGN) rose to 5-year highs; gaining 2.79% or 2.00 to 73.80.

The CAC 40 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of CAC 40 options, was unchanged 0.00% to 18.96 a new 52-week high.

Gold Futures for April delivery was down 6.68% or 357.51 to $4,997.29 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in March rose 0.40% or 0.26 to hit $65.68 a barrel, while the April Brent oil contract rose 0.32% or 0.22 to trade at $69.81 a barrel.

EUR/USD was down 0.71% to 1.19, while EUR/GBP unchanged 0.12% to 0.87.

The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.60% at 96.71.

Investing.com -- Carrefour SA (EPA:CARR) shares fell on Friday after Jefferies downgraded the French food retailer to “hold” rating, saying much of the benefit from the company’s strategic review now appears reflected in the stock price.

Jefferies cut its rating from “buy” and set a price target of €14, compared with a prior target of €14.50. Carrefour shares last traded at €13.92, giving the new target upside of about 1%.

The downgrade follows a roughly 20% re-rating in Carrefour’s shares since mid-2025, which Jefferies said was driven largely by discussions around asset disposals rather than a change in the outlook for the core business.

The analysts said the company’s strategic review, launched in February 2025, delivered meaningful earnings per share accretion and sharpened the focus on France, Spain and Brazil, but added that the market is now pricing in much of that progress.

Jefferies said the disposal of the Italy business, the squeeze-out of minorities in Brazil and the refinancing of Brazilian operations in euros together delivered about 20% accretion to the 2024 earnings base. 

Press reports on potential additional disposals in markets including Argentina, Poland, Romania and Belgium have also supported the shares, the report said.

Despite those actions, Jefferies flagged concerns around trading momentum in Carrefour’s core markets. 

The analysts said French food retail sales growth and market share gains have remained limited, with Carrefour exiting 2025 with low single-digit percentage growth in France. In Brazil, Jefferies pointed to a challenging consumer backdrop and slowing food retail growth.

Jefferies forecasts group revenue of €86.78 billion in 2025, €86.59 billion in 2026 and €89.15 billion in 2027. 

Earnings per share are forecast at €1.62 in 2025, €1.87 in 2026 and €2.02 in 2027. The analysts said they are 2% to 4% below consensus estimates for earnings before interest and tax in 2025 through 2027.

On valuation, Jefferies said Carrefour now trades at a smaller discount to European grocery peers than in early 2025. The brokerage estimates the shares are valued at about 6.9x 2027 earnings, compared with a larger historical discount, and said the valuation is no longer compelling without clearer evidence of improvement in core markets.

Carrefour has a market capitalization of about €9.2 billion and a 52-week trading range of €11.58 to €15.14, according to the report.