Investing.com – Belgium equities were higher at the close on Friday, as gains in the Consumer Goods, Healthcare and Utilities sectors propelled shares higher.
At the close in Brussels, the BEL 20 gained 0.36% to hit a new 1-month high.
The biggest gainers of the session on the BEL 20 were UCB (BR:UCB), which rose 2.54% or 1.45 points to trade at 58.53 at the close. Etablissementen Fr Colruyt NV (BR:COLR) added 1.77% or 0.80 points to end at 46.07 and Anheuser-Busch Inbev SA (BR:ABI) was up 1.60% or 1.56 points to 98.86 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Umicore NV (BR:UMI), which lost 0.82% or 0.44 points to trade at 53.17 in late trade. ING Groep NV (AS:INGA) declined 0.80% or 0.110 points to end at 13.600 and Ackermans V.Haaren (BR:ACKB) shed 0.50% or 0.65 points to 128.90.
Advancing stocks outnumbered falling ones by 65 to 46 and 10 ended unchanged on the Brussels Stock Exchange.
In commodities trading, Gold for February delivery was up 0.89% or 10.05 to $1139.85 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in January rose 1.63% or 0.83 to hit $51.73 a barrel, while the February Brent oil contract rose 1.93% or 1.04 to trade at $55.06 a barrel.
EUR/USD was up 0.40% to 1.0456, while EUR/GBP fell 0.10% to 0.8378.
The US Dollar Index was down 0.38% at 102.76.