French stocks rose Thursday, performing better than broader European equities, as gains for Publicis Groupe and Pernod Ricard helped relieve pressure from concerns over the outcome of Sunday’s presidential election vote, MarketWatch reports.

In Paris, the CAC 40 moved up 0.5% to 5,029.68. That was better than the Stoxx Europe 600, which trudged up 0.1% and has been slipping between small gains and losses. The pan-European index was held back by losses in the commodity sector, but consumer goods and financial shares were rising.