Investing.com – Belgium stocks were higher after the close on Thursday, as gains in the Basic Materials, Technology and Telecoms sectors led shares higher.
At the close in Brussels, the BEL 20 added 0.70%.
The best performers of the session on the BEL 20 were Umicore NV (BR:UMI), which rose 3.68% or 2.30 points to trade at 64.74 at the close. Meanwhile, Proximus NV (BR:PROX) added 1.17% or 0.36 points to end at 31.23 and ING Groep NV (AS:INGA) was up 1.06% or 0.165 points to 15.745 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Galapagos NV (AS:GLPG), which fell 1.49% or 1.010 points to trade at 66.600 at the close. Aperam SA (AS:APAM) declined 0.72% or 0.30 points to end at 41.55 and Ontex Group (BR:ONTEX) was down 0.15% or 0.04 points to 30.91.
Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the Brussels Stock Exchange by 67 to 45 and 9 ended unchanged.
Shares in Umicore NV (BR:UMI) rose to all time highs; up 3.68% or 2.30 to 64.74.
Gold Futures for August delivery was down 0.12% or 1.41 to $1217.69 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in August rose 1.14% or 0.52 to hit $46.01 a barrel, while the September Brent oil contract rose 1.11% or 0.53 to trade at $48.27 a barrel.
EUR/USD was down 0.23% to 1.1386, while EUR/GBP fell 0.55% to 0.8809.
The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.09% at 95.64.