Investing.com – Belgium equities were lower at the close on Friday, as losses in the Financials, Utilities and Consumer Services sectors propelled shares lower.
At the close in Brussels, the BEL 20 declined 0.02% to hit a new 5-year high.
The biggest gainers of the session on the BEL 20 were Ontex Group (BR:ONTEX), which rose 2.49% or 0.74 points to trade at 30.61 at the close. Aperam SA (AS:APAM) added 2.10% or 0.95 points to end at 46.51 and Anheuser Busch Inbev SA NV (BR:ABI) was up 1.38% or 1.45 points to 106.15 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Galapagos NV (AS:GLPG), which lost 1.85% or 1.620 points to trade at 86.080 in late trade. bpost NV (BR:BPOST) declined 1.54% or 0.37 points to end at 23.66 and KBC (BR:KBC) shed 0.67% or 0.480 points to 71.630.
Declining stocks outnumbered rising ones by 59 to 56 and 12 ended unchanged on the Brussels Stock Exchange.
In commodities trading, Gold Futures for December delivery was up 0.55% or 7.07 to $1303.57 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in November rose 1.72% or 0.87 to hit $51.47 a barrel, while the December Brent oil contract rose 1.74% or 0.98 to trade at $57.23 a barrel.
EUR/USD was up 0.10% to 1.1843, while EUR/GBP fell 0.22% to 0.8900.
The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.16% at 92.79.