Investing.com – Belgium equities were higher at the close on Wednesday, as gains in the Healthcare, Basic Materials and Consumer Services sectors propelled shares higher.
At the close in Brussels, the BEL 20 added 0.20%.
The biggest gainers of the session on the BEL 20 were Umicore SA (BR:UMI), which rose 2.18% or 0.84 points to trade at 39.57 at the close. NV Bekaert SA (BR:BEKB) added 2.04% or 0.72 points to end at 36.22 and Aperam SA (AS:APAM) was up 1.55% or 0.65 points to 42.65 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Engie SA (PA:ENGIE), which lost 0.48% or 0.07 points to trade at 14.49 in late trade. ING Groep NV (AS:INGA) declined 0.39% or 0.060 points to end at 15.485 and Ageas (BR:AGES) shed 0.32% or 0.130 points to 40.980.
Advancing stocks outnumbered falling ones by 70 to 50 and 12 ended unchanged on the Brussels Stock Exchange.
In commodities trading, Gold Futures for February delivery was up 0.26% or 3.40 to $1290.90 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in February fell 0.70% or 0.42 to hit $59.55 a barrel, while the March Brent oil contract fell 0.83% or 0.55 to trade at $65.91 a barrel.
EUR/USD was up 0.35% to 1.1900, while EUR/GBP rose 0.17% to 0.8881.
The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.27% at 92.59.