Investing.com – Belgium equities were lower at the close on Friday, as losses in the Financials, Consumer Goods and Technology sectors propelled shares lower.
At the close in Brussels, the BEL 20 fell 0.20% to hit a new 52-week low.
The biggest gainers of the session on the BEL 20 were Ontex Group (BR:ONTEX), which rose 2.35% or 0.38 points to trade at 16.55 at the close. ING Groep NV (AS:INGA) added 1.42% or 0.133 points to end at 9.490 and Solvay SA (BR:SOLB) was up 0.97% or 0.84 points to 87.84 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Galapagos NV (AS:GLPG), which lost 4.07% or 3.420 points to trade at 80.660 in late trade. Sofina (BR:SOF) declined 1.45% or 2.40 points to end at 163.40 and UCB (BR:UCB) shed 1.42% or 1.04 points to 72.22.
Declining stocks outnumbered rising ones by 54 to 50 and 18 ended unchanged on the Brussels Stock Exchange.
In commodities trading, Gold Futures for February delivery was down 0.58% or 7.40 to $1260.50 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in February fell 0.28% or 0.13 to hit $45.75 a barrel, while the February Brent oil contract fell 0.99% or 0.54 to trade at $53.81 a barrel.
EUR/USD was down 0.45% to 1.1395, while EUR/GBP fell 0.54% to 0.8995.
The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.54% at 96.243.