Investing.com – Netherlands equities were higher at the close on Friday, as gains in the Technology, Healthcare and Basic Materials sectors propelled shares higher.
At the close in Amsterdam, the AEX rose 0.19%.
The biggest gainers of the session on the AEX were Galapagos NV (AS:GLPG), which rose 1.68% or 1.560 points to trade at 94.340 at the close. ASML Holding NV (AS:ASML) added 1.25% or 2.05 points to end at 165.80 and Heineken (AS:HEIN) was up 1.12% or 1.00 points to 90.38 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Koninklijke Vopak NV (AS:VOPA), which lost 0.67% or 0.25 points to trade at 37.05 in late trade. Unilever NV DRC (AS:UNc) declined 0.57% or 0.26 points to end at 46.15 and ING Groep NV (AS:INGA) shed 0.17% or 0.028 points to 16.230.
Advancing stocks outnumbered falling ones by 76 to 44 and 12 ended unchanged on the Amsterdam Stock Exchange.
The AEX Volatility, which measures the implied volatility of AEX options, was down 2.47% to 10.62.
In commodities trading, Crude oil for March delivery was up 0.84% or 0.55 to $66.06 a barrel. Meanwhile, Brent oil for delivery in March rose 0.07% or 0.05 to hit $70.47 a barrel, while the February Gold Futures contract fell 0.78% or 10.60 to trade at $1352.30 a troy ounce.
EUR/USD was up 0.22% to 1.2424, while EUR/GBP fell 0.08% to 0.8761.
The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.38% at 88.85.