Investing.com – Belgium equities were higher at the close on Friday, as gains in the Financials, Utilities and Consumer Goods sectors propelled shares higher.
At the close in Brussels, the BEL 20 rose 0.94% to hit a new 52-week high.
The biggest gainers of the session on the BEL 20 were ING Groep NV (AS:INGA), which rose 2.85% or 0.385 points to trade at 13.880 at the close. KBC (BR:KBC) added 1.82% or 1.080 points to end at 60.460 and Engie SA (PA:ENGIE) was up 1.51% or 0.19 points to 12.79 in late trade.
Biggest losers included bpost NV (BR:BPOST), which lost 2.44% or 0.57 points to trade at 22.79 in late trade. Galapagos NV (AS:GLPG) declined 0.68% or 0.470 points to end at 68.210 and Solvay SA (BR:SOLB) shed 0.41% or 0.45 points to 110.65.
Declining stocks outnumbered rising ones by 54 to 53 and 10 ended unchanged on the Brussels Stock Exchange.
In commodities trading, Gold Futures for April delivery was down 0.60% or 7.45 to $1225.45 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in April rose 1.03% or 0.54 to hit $53.15 a barrel, while the May Brent oil contract rose 0.94% or 0.52 to trade at $55.60 a barrel.
EUR/USD was up 0.44% to 1.0552, while EUR/GBP rose 0.56% to 0.8615.
The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.23% at 101.93.