Investing.com – Belgium stocks were higher after the close on Friday, as gains in the Healthcare, Financials and Industrials sectors led shares higher.
At the close in Brussels, the BEL 20 gained 0.42% to hit a new 5-year high.
The best performers of the session on the BEL 20 were UCB (BR:UCB), which rose 2.35% or 1.41 points to trade at 61.48 at the close. Meanwhile, Galapagos NV (AS:GLPG) added 1.86% or 1.570 points to end at 86.070 and NV Bekaert SA (BR:BEKB) was up 1.83% or 0.72 points to 40.09 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Ontex Group (BR:ONTEX), which fell 1.51% or 0.46 points to trade at 30.07 at the close. Engie SA (PA:ENGIE) declined 0.76% or 0.11 points to end at 14.32 and Umicore SA (BR:UMI) was down 0.76% or 0.29 points to 37.43.
Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the Brussels Stock Exchange by 54 to 53 and 16 ended unchanged.
Gold Futures for December delivery was down 0.56% or 7.23 to $1282.77 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in November rose 0.02% or 0.01 to hit $51.30 a barrel, while the December Brent oil contract rose 0.05% or 0.03 to trade at $57.26 a barrel.
EUR/USD was down 0.60% to 1.1781, while EUR/GBP fell 0.89% to 0.8927.
The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.57% at 93.53.