Paris (France) (AFP) – The main index of the Paris Stock Exchange broke a double record on Tuesday, galvanized like other world markets by the hope of an agreement in the Middle East which brings oil below 80 dollars, in addition to good company results.

Published on: 04/08/2026 - 19:31

The CAC 40 ended the session at its highest level since its creation in 1987 at 8,666.63 points (+52.81 points, or +0.63%).

Its previous best performance at the end of the session dated February 26, 2026, two days before the launch of the attacks against Iran by the United States and Israel (8,620.93 points).

The basket of the 40 main French companies also broke its record during the session with a peak just below the threshold of 8,670 points.

The high morale of investors can be explained by the drop in oil prices, good corporate results and tech stocks which are on the rise again, according to Antoine Andreani of the XTB investment platform.

Around 7:00 p.m. GMT, the price of a barrel of Brent from the North Sea, for delivery in October, lost 4.83% to $79.72.

“We are in discussions with the Iranians, and I think there is a chance that we will reach an agreement today or tomorrow to reopen the Strait (of Hormuz) and move towards normalization,” declared US Secretary of Defense Scott Bessent in an interview with CNBC.

Published after the meeting, the good results of the BPCE banking group (+38% net profit, to 1.3 billion euros) confirmed the good performance of French companies.

And the good health of "tech" was reflected in the return to favor of the Franco-Italian semiconductor champion STMicroelectronics (+3.58% to 46.89 euros), second best performance of the day behind ArcelorMittal (+4.24% to 64.44 euros).

Schneider Electric (+3.15% to 299.25 euros) also benefited from the renewed appetite for stocks linked to artificial intelligence, given its role in the data center market.

Outside the CAC 40, Soitec (+9.88% to 120.10 euros) is proof of the surge in materials leaders for innovative semiconductors.

At the bottom of the CAC 40, TotalEnergies obviously suffered the decline in oil prices (-2.85% to 74.25 euros), recording the second worst performance, after the luxury group Kering (-3.16% to 279.30 euros).

© 2026 AFP

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