French shares drop 0.7 pct on Friday

PARIS, March 8 (Xinhua) -- French shares lost on Friday, with the benchmark Paris CAC 40 down 0.7 percent, or 36.70 points, to close at 5,231.22 points.

Of the 40 selected large companies, 29 lost in the day.

French-based international ophthalmic optics company EssilorLuxottica lost 6.30 percent, the top loser of the blue chips. International oil and gas industry service provider Technipfmc went down by 2.93 percent and French banking group Societe Generale lost 2.47 percent.

French multinational telecommunications corporation Orange SA advanced 1.04 percent. French personal care company L'Oreal rose 0.44 percent and French concessions and construction company Vinci rose 0.40 percent. Enditem