Investing.com – Belgium equities were lower at the close on Wednesday, as losses in the Utilities, Basic Materials and Healthcare sectors propelled shares lower.
At the close in Brussels, the BEL 20 fell 0.24%.
The biggest gainers of the session on the BEL 20 were NV Bekaert SA (BR:BEKB), which rose 9.67% or 3.60 points to trade at 40.82 at the close. Umicore SA (BR:UMI) added 1.42% or 0.65 points to end at 46.52 and Ageas (BR:AGES) was up 0.96% or 0.410 points to 43.150 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Solvay SA (BR:SOLB), which lost 3.54% or 4.15 points to trade at 113.10 in late trade. Galapagos NV (AS:GLPG) declined 2.59% or 2.300 points to end at 86.580 and Engie SA (PA:ENGIE) shed 1.49% or 0.19 points to 12.88.
Declining stocks outnumbered rising ones by 62 to 43 and 25 ended unchanged on the Brussels Stock Exchange.
In commodities trading, Gold Futures for April delivery was up 0.21% or 2.80 to $1321.40 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in April fell 1.13% or 0.71 to hit $62.30 a barrel, while the May Brent oil contract fell 1.41% or 0.94 to trade at $65.58 a barrel.
EUR/USD was down 0.17% to 1.2212, while EUR/GBP rose 0.73% to 0.8859.
The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.20% at 90.49.