Investing.com – Belgium equities were higher at the close on Friday, as gains in the Healthcare, Financials and Telecoms sectors propelled shares higher.
At the close in Brussels, the BEL 20 added 0.54% to hit a new 52-week high.
The biggest gainers of the session on the BEL 20 were Galapagos NV (AS:GLPG), which rose 2.67% or 1.890 points to trade at 72.570 at the close. ING Groep NV (AS:INGA) added 2.02% or 0.290 points to end at 14.620 and KBC (BR:KBC) was up 1.50% or 0.940 points to 63.500 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Solvay SA (BR:SOLB), which lost 1.40% or 1.55 points to trade at 109.45 in late trade. Engie SA (PA:ENGIE) declined 1.26% or 0.16 points to end at 12.56 and Cofinimmo-Sicafi (BR:COFB) shed 0.91% or 0.95 points to 103.55.
Advancing stocks outnumbered falling ones by 67 to 48 and 10 ended unchanged on the Brussels Stock Exchange.
In commodities trading, Gold Futures for April delivery was down 0.30% or 3.55 to $1199.65 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in April fell 0.93% or 0.46 to hit $48.82 a barrel, while the May Brent oil contract fell 0.94% or 0.49 to trade at $51.70 a barrel.
EUR/USD was up 0.84% to 1.0665, while EUR/GBP rose 0.91% to 0.8772.
The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.52% at 101.45.