Investing.com – Belgium equities were higher at the close on Thursday, as gains in the Utilities, Consumer Goods and Technology sectors propelled shares higher.
At the close in Brussels, the BEL 20 rose 1.45%.
The biggest gainers of the session on the BEL 20 were Engie SA (PA:ENGIE), which rose 3.38% or 0.47 points to trade at 14.51 at the close. Anheuser-Busch Inbev SA (BR:ABI) added 2.80% or 3.20 points to end at 117.60 and Elia (BR:ELI) was up 1.97% or 0.970 points to 50.320 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Ackermans V.Haaren (BR:ACKB), which lost 1.68% or 1.89 points to trade at 110.36 in late trade. Cofinimmo-Sicafi (BR:COFB) declined 0.33% or 0.35 points to end at 105.75 and Ageas (BR:AGES) shed 0.19% or 0.060 points to 30.985.
Advancing stocks outnumbered falling ones by 104 to 35 and 9 ended unchanged on the Brussels Stock Exchange.
In commodities trading, Gold for August delivery was down 0.32% or 4.25 to $1322.65 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in August fell 2.25% or 1.12 to hit $48.76 a barrel, while the September Brent oil contract fell 2.40% or 1.23 to trade at $50.09 a barrel.
EUR/USD was down 0.57% to 1.1061, while EUR/GBP rose 0.88% to 0.8359.
The US Dollar Index was up 0.64% at 96.30.