Investing.com – Belgium equities were higher at the close on Friday, as gains in the Utilities, Healthcare and Consumer Services sectors propelled shares higher.
At the close in Brussels, the BEL 20 added 2.05% to hit a new 6-month high.
The biggest gainers of the session on the BEL 20 were NV Bekaert SA (BR:BEKB), which rose 5.40% or 1.99 points to trade at 38.86 at the close. UCB (BR:UCB) added 3.03% or 2.18 points to end at 74.04 and Engie SA (PA:ENGIE) was up 2.78% or 0.40 points to 14.62 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Cofinimmo-Sicafi (BR:COFB), which added 0.09% or 0.10 points to trade at 110.75 in late trade. Elia (BR:ELI) added 0.80% or 0.360 points to end at 45.510 and Galapagos NV (AS:GLPG) gained 1.07% or 0.515 points to 48.765.
Advancing stocks outnumbered falling ones by 110 to 31 and 8 ended unchanged on the Brussels Stock Exchange.
In commodities trading, Gold for December delivery was up 0.41% or 5.35 to $1322.45 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in October rose 2.99% or 1.29 to hit $44.45 a barrel, while the November Brent oil contract rose 3.01% or 1.37 to trade at $46.82 a barrel.
EUR/USD was down 0.38% to 1.1155, while EUR/GBP fell 0.49% to 0.8389.
The US Dollar Index was up 0.27% at 95.92.