Investing.com – Belgium equities were higher at the close on Thursday, as gains in the Utilities, Technology and Basic Materials sectors propelled shares higher.
At the close in Brussels, the BEL 20 gained 0.81%.
The biggest gainers of the session on the BEL 20 were Umicore NV (BR:UMI), which rose 2.72% or 1.74 points to trade at 65.60 at the close. Engie SA (PA:ENGIE) added 2.67% or 0.39 points to end at 14.79 and NV Bekaert SA (BR:BEKB) was up 2.42% or 0.98 points to 41.63 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Etablissementen Fr Colruyt NV (BR:COLR), which lost 0.44% or 0.20 points to trade at 46.90 in late trade. Ackermans V.Haaren (BR:ACKB) declined 0.39% or 0.55 points to end at 140.25 and Sofina (BR:SOF) shed 0.36% or 0.45 points to 123.75.
Advancing stocks outnumbered falling ones by 65 to 49 and 6 ended unchanged on the Brussels Stock Exchange.
In commodities trading, Gold Futures for December delivery was up 0.94% or 12.52 to $1351.52 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in October fell 0.04% or 0.02 to hit $49.14 a barrel, while the November Brent oil contract rose 0.28% or 0.15 to trade at $54.35 a barrel.
EUR/USD was up 0.75% to 1.2006, while EUR/GBP rose 0.51% to 0.9184.
The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.64% at 91.62.