Investing.com – Belgium equities were higher at the close on Thursday, as gains in the Utilities, Technology and Healthcare sectors propelled shares higher.
At the close in Brussels, the BEL 20 added 0.21% to hit a new 52-week high.
The biggest gainers of the session on the BEL 20 were Engie SA (PA:ENGIE), which rose 8.24% or 0.96 points to trade at 12.61 at the close. Galapagos NV (AS:GLPG) added 1.73% or 1.170 points to end at 68.680 and NV Bekaert SA (BR:BEKB) was up 1.62% or 0.74 points to 46.34 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Umicore NV (BR:UMI), which lost 3.38% or 1.70 points to trade at 48.60 in late trade. Anheuser Busch Inbev SA NV (BR:ABI) declined 2.50% or 2.60 points to end at 101.30 and Koninklijke Ahold Delhaize NV (AS:AD) shed 2.17% or 0.45 points to 20.31.
Declining stocks outnumbered rising ones by 69 to 41 and 11 ended unchanged on the Brussels Stock Exchange.
In commodities trading, Gold Futures for April delivery was down 1.35% or 16.85 to $1233.15 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in April fell 2.04% or 1.10 to hit $52.73 a barrel, while the May Brent oil contract fell 1.99% or 1.12 to trade at $55.24 a barrel.
EUR/USD was down 0.34% to 1.0511, while EUR/GBP fell 0.12% to 0.8567.
The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.39% at 102.14.