Investing.com – Belgium equities were higher at the close on Friday, as gains in the Healthcare, Telecoms and Utilities sectors propelled shares higher.
At the close in Brussels, the BEL 20 rose 0.45% to hit a new 52-week high.
The biggest gainers of the session on the BEL 20 were Melexis NV (EBR:MLXS), which rose 3.25% or 2.50 points to trade at 79.50 at the close. Ackermans & Van Haaren NV (EBR:ACKB) added 2.52% or 4.30 points to end at 174.90 and Argen-X (EBR:ARGX) was up 1.74% or 7.70 points to 451.40 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Proximus NV (EBR:PROX), which lost 11.29% or 0.87 points to trade at 6.80 in late trade. Umicore SA (EBR:UMI) declined 5.00% or 0.69 points to end at 13.11 and Warehouses de Pauw Comm VA (EBR:WDPP) shed 3.63% or 0.94 points to 24.96.
Advancing stocks outnumbered falling ones by 52 to 38 and 15 ended unchanged on the Brussels Stock Exchange.
In commodities trading, Gold Futures for August delivery was up 1.31% or 30.90 to $2,384.40 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in September fell 1.42% or 1.11 to hit $77.17 a barrel, while the September Brent oil contract fell 1.53% or 1.26 to trade at $81.11 a barrel.
EUR/USD was unchanged 0.13% to 1.09, while EUR/GBP unchanged 0.04% to 0.84.
The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.04% at 104.07.