Investing.com – Belgium equities were higher at the close on Friday, as gains in the Consumer Goods, Healthcare and Consumer Services sectors propelled shares higher.
At the close in Brussels, the BEL 20 gained 0.58% to hit a new 52-week high.
The biggest gainers of the session on the BEL 20 were Elia (BR:ELI), which rose 3.21% or 1.550 points to trade at 49.800 at the close. Anheuser Busch Inbev SA NV (BR:ABI) added 1.75% or 1.80 points to end at 104.70 and Koninklijke Ahold Delhaize NV (AS:AD) was up 1.62% or 0.33 points to 20.39 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Ontex Group (BR:ONTEX), which lost 0.48% or 0.15 points to trade at 30.99 in late trade. ING Groep NV (AS:INGA) declined 0.24% or 0.035 points to end at 14.385 and NV Bekaert SA (BR:BEKB) shed 0.17% or 0.08 points to 46.90.
Advancing stocks outnumbered falling ones by 70 to 38 and 8 ended unchanged on the Brussels Stock Exchange.
In commodities trading, Gold Futures for April delivery was up 0.14% or 1.75 to $1228.85 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in April rose 0.12% or 0.06 to hit $48.81 a barrel, while the May Brent oil contract rose 0.08% or 0.04 to trade at $51.78 a barrel.
EUR/USD was down 0.16% to 1.0749, while EUR/GBP fell 0.45% to 0.8672.
The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.02% at 100.07.