Investing.com – Belgium stocks were higher after the close on Friday, as gains in the Consumer Goods, Healthcare and Consumer Services sectors led shares higher.
At the close in Brussels, the BEL 20 added 0.58% to hit a new 52-week high.
The best performers of the session on the BEL 20 were Elia (BR:ELI), which rose 3.21% or 1.550 points to trade at 49.800 at the close. Meanwhile, Anheuser Busch Inbev SA NV (BR:ABI) added 1.75% or 1.80 points to end at 104.70 and Koninklijke Ahold Delhaize NV (AS:AD) was up 1.62% or 0.33 points to 20.39 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Ontex Group (BR:ONTEX), which fell 0.48% or 0.15 points to trade at 30.99 at the close. ING Groep NV (AS:INGA) declined 0.24% or 0.035 points to end at 14.385 and NV Bekaert SA (BR:BEKB) was down 0.17% or 0.08 points to 46.90.
Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the Brussels Stock Exchange by 70 to 38 and 8 ended unchanged.
Gold Futures for April delivery was up 0.14% or 1.70 to $1228.80 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in April rose 0.12% or 0.06 to hit $48.81 a barrel, while the May Brent oil contract rose 0.08% or 0.04 to trade at $51.78 a barrel.
EUR/USD was down 0.16% to 1.0749, while EUR/GBP fell 0.46% to 0.8671.
The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.01% at 100.08.