Investing.com – Belgium equities were higher at the close on Wednesday, as gains in the Healthcare, Utilities and Basic Materials sectors propelled shares higher.
At the close in Brussels, the BEL 20 added 0.73% to hit a new 1-month high.
The biggest gainers of the session on the BEL 20 were KBC (BR:KBC), which rose 3.87% or 2.280 points to trade at 61.120 at the close. ING Groep NV (AS:INGA) added 3.64% or 0.362 points to end at 10.294 and Aperam SA (AS:APAM) was up 3.15% or 0.78 points to 25.55 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Anheuser Busch Inbev SA NV (BR:ABI), which lost 2.69% or 1.71 points to trade at 61.83 in late trade. Umicore SA (BR:UMI) declined 2.18% or 0.80 points to end at 35.87 and Argen-X (BR:ARGX) shed 1.76% or 1.60 points to 89.50.
Advancing stocks outnumbered falling ones by 67 to 43 and 12 ended unchanged on the Brussels Stock Exchange.
In commodities trading, Gold Futures for February delivery was up 0.48% or 6.15 to $1294.55 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in February fell 0.29% or 0.15 to hit $51.96 a barrel, while the March Brent oil contract rose 0.26% or 0.16 to trade at $60.80 a barrel.
EUR/USD was down 0.10% to 1.1402, while EUR/GBP fell 0.13% to 0.8861.
The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.03% at 95.648.