(RTTNews) - French stocks rose slightly on Friday to extend gains from the previous session after opinion polls predicted that Sunday vote could result in a 'hung parliament'.
Meanwhile, France's foreign trade deficit increased in May as exports fell faster than imports, data released by the customs office showed.
The trade deficit rose to EUR 7.98 billion in May from EUR 7.56 billion in April. The expected shortfall was EUR 7.20 billion.
In the same period last year, the deficit totaled EUR 7.87 billion.
Exports posted a monthly decline of 1.7 percent, and imports were 0.7 percent lower.
On a yearly basis, both exports and imports slid by 0.6 percent and 3.3 percent, respectively.
The benchmark CAC 40 was up 22 points, or 0.3 percent, at 7,718 after climbing 0.8 percent the previous day.
