Investing.com – France stocks were lower after the close on Tuesday, as losses in the Technology , Oil & Gas and Healthcare sectors led shares lower.

At the close in Paris, the CAC 40 lost 0.49%, while the SBF 120 index declined 0.51%.

The best performers of the session on the CAC 40 were Societe Generale SA (EPA: SOGN ), which rose 2.25% or 0.85 points to trade at 38.70 at the close. Meanwhile, Orange SA (EPA: ORAN ) added 1.97% or 0.22 points to end at 11.38 and Thales (EPA: TCFP ) was up 1.97% or 3.65 points to 189.35 in late trade.

The worst performers of the session were Schneider Electric SE (EPA: SCHN ), which fell 3.57% or 8.55 points to trade at 231.05 at the close. Compagnie Generale des Etablissements Michelin SCA (EPA: MICP ) declined 2.94% or 1.00 points to end at 33.03 and EssilorLuxottica SA (EPA: ESLX ) was down 2.78% or 8.00 points to 279.40.

The top performers on the SBF 120 were Eutelsat Communications SA (EPA: ETL ) which rose 4.25% to 1.35, Ubisoft Entertainment (EPA: UBIP ) which was up 4.19% to settle at 12.32 and Vusiongroup SA (EPA: VU ) which gained 2.48% to close at 165.00.

The worst performers were Clariane SE (EPA: CLARI ) which was down 8.26% to 2.84 in late trade, Gaztransport et Technigaz SA (EPA: GTT ) which lost 5.89% to settle at 150.30 and Soitec SA (EPA: SOIT ) which was down 5.46% to 58.90 at the close.

Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the Paris Stock Exchange by 305 to 192 and 91 ended unchanged.

Shares in Societe Generale SA (EPA: SOGN ) rose to 5-year highs; up 2.25% or 0.85 to 38.70. Shares in Orange SA (EPA: ORAN ) rose to 52-week highs; rising 1.97% or 0.22 to 11.38. Shares in Thales (EPA: TCFP ) rose to all time highs; rising 1.97% or 3.65 to 189.35.

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 1.88% or 55.61 to $2,907.59 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in April fell 2.59% or 1.83 to hit $68.87 a barrel, while the May Brent oil contract fell 2.56% or 1.90 to trade at $72.41 a barrel.

EUR/USD was unchanged 0.22% to 1.05, while EUR/GBP unchanged 0.13% to 0.83.

The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.11% at 106.39.