Investing.com – Belgium stocks were higher after the close on Wednesday, as gains in the Utilities, Consumer Goods and Consumer Services sectors led shares higher.
At the close in Brussels, the BEL 20 rose 0.31%.
The best performers of the session on the BEL 20 were Ontex Group (BR:ONTEX), which rose 2.94% or 0.51 points to trade at 17.84 at the close. Meanwhile, Umicore SA (BR:UMI) added 2.38% or 0.86 points to end at 36.96 and Solvay SA (BR:SOLB) was up 1.50% or 1.42 points to 96.10 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Galapagos NV (AS:GLPG), which fell 2.67% or 2.420 points to trade at 88.220 at the close. Argen-X (BR:ARGX) declined 2.41% or 2.20 points to end at 89.20 and Engie SA (PA:ENGIE) was down 1.07% or 0.15 points to 13.89.
Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the Brussels Stock Exchange by 61 to 47 and 16 ended unchanged.
Gold Futures for February delivery was up 0.05% or 0.60 to $1309.50 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in March rose 2.79% or 1.49 to hit $54.80 a barrel, while the April Brent oil contract rose 1.83% or 1.12 to trade at $62.32 a barrel.
EUR/USD was down 0.13% to 1.1415, while EUR/GBP fell 0.03% to 0.8742.
The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.10% at 95.615.