Investing.com – Belgium equities were higher at the close on Friday, as gains in the Consumer Services, Utilities and Technology Hardware & Equipment sectors propelled shares higher.
At the close in Brussels, the BEL 20 added 2.97%.
The biggest gainers of the session on the BEL 20 were Aperam SA (AS:APAM), which rose 8.78% or 1.95 points to trade at 24.15 at the close. Galapagos NV (AS:GLPG) added 6.61% or 5.240 points to end at 84.500 and Solvay SA (BR:SOLB) was up 5.52% or 4.70 points to 89.82 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Proximus NV (BR:PROX), which added 0.04% or 0.01 points to trade at 23.91 in late trade. Cofinimmo SA (BR:COFB) added 0.27% or 0.30 points to end at 109.80 and Ontex Group (BR:ONTEX) gained 0.35% or 0.06 points to 17.36.
Advancing stocks outnumbered falling ones by 86 to 24 and 15 ended unchanged on the Brussels Stock Exchange.
In commodities trading, Gold Futures for February delivery was down 0.64% or 8.30 to $1286.50 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in February rose 1.93% or 0.91 to hit $48.00 a barrel, while the March Brent oil contract rose 2.07% or 1.16 to trade at $57.11 a barrel.
EUR/USD was up 0.02% to 1.1395, while EUR/GBP fell 0.68% to 0.8956.
The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.09% at 95.787.