Investing.com – Belgium equities were higher at the close on Friday, as gains in the Technology, Consumer Services and Healthcare sectors propelled shares higher.
At the close in Brussels, the BEL 20 gained 1.75%.
The biggest gainers of the session on the BEL 20 were Ontex Group (BR:ONTEX), which rose 3.97% or 0.88 points to trade at 23.04 at the close. Galapagos NV (AS:GLPG) added 2.84% or 2.300 points to end at 83.200 and Etablissementen Fr Colruyt NV (BR:COLR) was up 1.90% or 0.84 points to 44.97 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Cofinimmo-Sicafi (BR:COFB), which lost 1.13% or 1.20 points to trade at 104.70 in late trade. Aperam SA (AS:APAM) declined 0.71% or 0.29 points to end at 40.25 and bpost NV (BR:BPOST) shed 0.50% or 0.14 points to 27.76.
Advancing stocks outnumbered falling ones by 71 to 43 and 18 ended unchanged on the Brussels Stock Exchange.
In commodities trading, Gold Futures for April delivery was up 0.26% or 3.50 to $1325.20 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in April rose 2.68% or 1.61 to hit $61.73 a barrel, while the May Brent oil contract rose 2.41% or 1.53 to trade at $65.14 a barrel.
EUR/USD was up 0.10% to 1.2323, while EUR/GBP fell 0.27% to 0.8892.
The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.10% at 90.02.