Investing.com – Belgium equities were higher at the close on Wednesday, as gains in the Utilities, Consumer Goods and Consumer Services sectors propelled shares higher.
At the close in Brussels, the BEL 20 gained 0.31%.
The biggest gainers of the session on the BEL 20 were Ontex Group (BR:ONTEX), which rose 2.94% or 0.51 points to trade at 17.84 at the close. Umicore SA (BR:UMI) added 2.38% or 0.86 points to end at 36.96 and Solvay SA (BR:SOLB) was up 1.50% or 1.42 points to 96.10 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Galapagos NV (AS:GLPG), which lost 2.67% or 2.420 points to trade at 88.220 in late trade. Argen-X (BR:ARGX) declined 2.41% or 2.20 points to end at 89.20 and Engie SA (PA:ENGIE) shed 1.07% or 0.15 points to 13.89.
Advancing stocks outnumbered falling ones by 61 to 47 and 16 ended unchanged on the Brussels Stock Exchange.
In commodities trading, Gold Futures for February delivery was up 0.05% or 0.60 to $1309.50 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in March rose 2.76% or 1.47 to hit $54.78 a barrel, while the April Brent oil contract rose 1.85% or 1.13 to trade at $62.33 a barrel.
EUR/USD was down 0.12% to 1.1417, while EUR/GBP fell 0.03% to 0.8742.
The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.10% at 95.613.