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 0.27% to hit a new 1-month high.
The biggest gainers of the session on the BEL 20 were Ontex Group (BR:ONTEX), which rose 2.22% or 0.70 points to trade at 32.50 at the close. Anheuser-Busch Inbev SA (BR:ABI) added 0.99% or 1.10 points to end at 112.75 and Galapagos NV (AS:GLPG) was up 0.85% or 0.405 points to 48.050 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Ageas (BR:AGES), which lost 0.80% or 0.255 points to trade at 31.620 in late trade. bpost NV (BR:BPOST) declined 0.73% or 0.17 points to end at 23.69 and Elia (BR:ELI) shed 0.71% or 0.340 points to 47.785.
Advancing stocks outnumbered falling ones by 79 to 55 and 14 ended unchanged on the Brussels Stock Exchange.
In commodities trading, Gold for December delivery was down 0.16% or 2.20 to $1347.80 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in September rose 1.89% or 0.82 to hit $44.31 a barrel, while the October Brent oil contract rose 1.50% or 0.69 to trade at $46.73 a barrel.
EUR/USD was up 0.26% to 1.1167, while EUR/GBP rose 0.57% to 0.8647.
The US Dollar Index was down 0.27% at 95.64.