Investing.com – Belgium equities were higher at the close on Friday, as gains in the Technology, Consumer Goods and Industrials sectors propelled shares higher.
At the close in Brussels, the BEL 20 rose 1.12% to hit a new 1-month high.
The biggest gainers of the session on the BEL 20 were Umicore SA (BR:UMI), which rose 5.12% or 1.79 points to trade at 36.75 at the close. ING Groep NV (AS:INGA) added 3.00% or 0.310 points to end at 10.644 and Solvay SA (BR:SOLB) was up 2.80% or 2.60 points to 95.54 in late trade.
Biggest losers included UCB (BR:UCB), which lost 1.99% or 1.52 points to trade at 74.86 in late trade. Etablissementen Franz Colruyt NV (BR:COLR) declined 0.74% or 0.46 points to end at 61.90 and Anheuser Busch Inbev SA NV (BR:ABI) shed 0.24% or 0.16 points to 65.54.
Advancing stocks outnumbered falling ones by 83 to 31 and 15 ended unchanged on the Brussels Stock Exchange.
In commodities trading, Gold Futures for February delivery was up 1.43% or 18.25 to $1298.05 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in March rose 0.92% or 0.49 to hit $53.62 a barrel, while the March Brent oil contract rose 0.70% or 0.43 to trade at $61.52 a barrel.
EUR/USD was up 0.91% to 1.1408, while EUR/GBP rose 0.15% to 0.8664.
The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.79% at 95.537.