French shares drop 0.72 pct on Wednesday

PARIS, Jan. 24 (Xinhua) -- French shares lost on Wednesday, with the benchmark Paris CAC 40 down 0.72 percent, or 40.10 points, to close at 5,495.16 points.

Of the 40 selected large companies, 36 lost in the day.

French-Italian multinational electronics and semiconductor manufacturer Stmicroelectronics was down 6.28 percent, the top loser of the blue chips. French transnational company Veolia Environment lost 3.84 percent, and French company that produces distilled beverages Pernod-Ricard lost 2.25 percent.

French multinational retailer Carrefour rose 1.42 percent, while French multinational pharmaceutical company Sanofi and UK-based company TechnipFMC gained 1.15 percent and 0.71 percent respectively. Enditem