Investing.com – Belgium stocks were higher after the close on Thursday, as gains in the Industrials, Utilities and Consumer Goods sectors led shares higher.
At the close in Brussels, the BEL 20 added 0.23%.
The best performers of the session on the BEL 20 were Aperam SA (AS:APAM), which rose 1.08% or 0.47 points to trade at 44.10 at the close. Meanwhile, Umicore SA (BR:UMI) added 0.82% or 0.32 points to end at 38.70 and bpost NV (BR:BPOST) was up 0.80% or 0.20 points to 25.30 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were UCB (BR:UCB), which fell 1.40% or 0.89 points to trade at 62.55 at the close. Etablissementen Fr Colruyt NV (BR:COLR) declined 0.68% or 0.31 points to end at 45.10 and Sofina (BR:SOF) was down 0.16% or 0.20 points to 128.80.
Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the Brussels Stock Exchange by 57 to 50 and 13 ended unchanged.
Shares in bpost NV (BR:BPOST) rose to 52-week highs; rising 0.80% or 0.20 to 25.30.
Gold Futures for December delivery was down 0.07% or 0.89 to $1291.31 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in January rose 0.43% or 0.25 to hit $58.27 a barrel, while the January Brent oil contract fell 0.13% or 0.08 to trade at $63.24 a barrel.
EUR/USD was up 0.25% to 1.1850, while EUR/GBP rose 0.39% to 0.8907.
The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.10% at 93.06.