Investing.com – Belgium stocks were higher after the close on Wednesday, as gains in the Basic Materials, Telecoms and Utilities sectors led shares higher.
At the close in Brussels, the BEL 20 rose 0.28%.
The best performers of the session on the BEL 20 were Cofinimmo-Sicafi (BR:COFB), which rose 1.75% or 1.80 points to trade at 104.80 at the close. Meanwhile, UCB (BR:UCB) added 1.52% or 1.00 points to end at 66.60 and Sofina (BR:SOF) was up 1.45% or 2.00 points to 139.80 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Ontex Group (BR:ONTEX), which fell 3.18% or 0.70 points to trade at 21.34 at the close. NV Bekaert SA (BR:BEKB) declined 2.59% or 0.96 points to end at 36.10 and Galapagos NV (AS:GLPG) was down 1.03% or 0.840 points to 80.800.
Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the Brussels Stock Exchange by 61 to 52 and 17 ended unchanged.
Shares in Ontex Group (BR:ONTEX) fell to 3-years lows; falling 3.18% or 0.70 to 21.34.
Gold Futures for April delivery was down 0.61% or 8.10 to $1327.10 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in April fell 2.81% or 1.76 to hit $60.84 a barrel, while the May Brent oil contract fell 2.58% or 1.70 to trade at $64.09 a barrel.
EUR/USD was down 0.06% to 1.2397, while EUR/GBP rose 0.01% to 0.8933.
The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.11% at 89.66.