Paris (France) (AFP) – The Paris Stock Exchange remains in positive territory on Thursday thanks to company results praised by investors, despite the context of extreme nervousness around the situation in the Middle East.

Published on: 04/23/2026 - 11:01

The CAC 40 index gained 0.29%, or a gain of 23.93 points, to settle at 8,180.36 points around 10:40 a.m. Paris time. On Wednesday, the flagship index of the Paris Stock Exchange lost 0.96% to 8,156.43 points.

Unlike other European markets, the CAC 40 remains in the green, driven by the performance of Dassault Systèmes (+6.31% to 20.12 euros), L'Oréal (+8.19% to 373.15 euros) and STMicroelectronics (+8.04% to 40.47 euros), whose results were warmly received.

The semiconductor group STMicroelectronics saw its turnover jump in the first quarter while showing a decline in its net profit over the same period, it said in a press release on Thursday.

The French cosmetics giant L'Oréal published Wednesday evening sales up 3.6% in the first quarter and a turnover higher than expectations.

French software publisher Dassault Systèmes also saw its net profit jump in the first quarter and is maintaining its objectives for the year, it said in a press release on Thursday, banking on its customers' appetite for artificial intelligence.

The burst of corporate results has relegated the uncertainties surrounding the situation in the Middle East to the background.

Iran announced that it had seized two ships in the Strait of Hormuz, which Washington did not consider a violation of the truce, and ruled out reopening this strategic passage as long as the blockade of its ports by the United States lasts.

“The standoff between Iran and the United States now focuses on trade and control of the Strait of Hormuz,” summarizes Kathleen Brooks, research director at XTB.

This strait, through which a fifth of the world's hydrocarbons usually transit, is at the heart of the conflict that began on February 28 with Israeli-American strikes on Iran, before the ceasefire between Washington and Tehran came into force on April 8.

And the seizure of ships by Iran "indicates that disruptions to flows are likely to continue. The market is therefore forced to revise its expectations", underline ING analysts.

BioMérieux unscrews

The French medical testing specialist BioMérieux plunged on Thursday at the opening of the Paris Stock Exchange, following the publication of its quarterly results where the group revised downwards its 2026 forecasts. The action dropped 16.06% to 74.50 euros around 10:50 a.m.

In the first quarter of 2026, the group saw its turnover fall by 10.4%, compared to a year earlier, to 983.6 million euros. Reasons given: an uncertain geopolitical environment and a rather mild winter in terms of epidemics, which also pushed it to lower its forecast results for the year.

© 2026 AFP

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