Investing.com – Belgium equities were higher at the close on Wednesday, as gains in the Utilities, Basic Materials and Telecoms sectors propelled shares higher.
At the close in Brussels, the BEL 20 rose 0.75%.
The biggest gainers of the session on the BEL 20 were Aperam SA (AS:APAM), which rose 2.61% or 1.08 points to trade at 42.59 at the close. Engie SA (PA:ENGIE) added 2.33% or 0.31 points to end at 13.60 and Solvay SA (BR:SOLB) was up 1.46% or 1.80 points to 125.10 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Galapagos NV (AS:GLPG), which lost 3.43% or 2.290 points to trade at 64.500 in late trade. bpost NV (BR:BPOST) declined 0.66% or 0.14 points to end at 21.82 and NV Bekaert SA (BR:BEKB) shed 0.45% or 0.21 points to 46.00.
Declining stocks outnumbered rising ones by 54 to 51 and 14 ended unchanged on the Brussels Stock Exchange.
In commodities trading, Gold Futures for August delivery was down 0.11% or 1.31 to $1240.59 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in August rose 1.31% or 0.61 to hit $47.01 a barrel, while the September Brent oil contract rose 1.37% or 0.67 to trade at $49.51 a barrel.
EUR/USD was down 0.30% to 1.1519, while EUR/GBP fell 0.23% to 0.8839.
The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.13% at 94.57.