Investing.com – Belgium stocks were higher after the close on Wednesday, as gains in the Financials, Basic Materials and Utilities sectors led shares higher.
At the close in Brussels, the BEL 20 gained 1.06%.
The best performers of the session on the BEL 20 were ING Groep NV (AS:INGA), which rose 8.20% or 0.771 points to trade at 10.175 at the close. Meanwhile, KBC (BR:KBC) added 2.92% or 1.290 points to end at 45.440 and Umicore NV (BR:UMI) was up 1.22% or 0.63 points to 52.17 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Ontex Group (BR:ONTEX), which fell 1.42% or 0.45 points to trade at 30.91 at the close. bpost NV (BR:BPOST) declined 1.16% or 0.27 points to end at 22.98 and Cofinimmo-Sicafi (BR:COFB) was down 0.86% or 0.95 points to 109.90.
Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the Brussels Stock Exchange by 80 to 55 and 18 ended unchanged.
Shares in Umicore NV (BR:UMI) rose to 5-year highs; gaining 1.22% or 0.63 to 52.17.
Gold for December delivery was down 0.61% or 8.35 to $1364.25 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in September rose 4.00% or 1.58 to hit $41.09 a barrel, while the October Brent oil contract rose 3.71% or 1.55 to trade at $43.35 a barrel.
EUR/USD was down 0.68% to 1.1148, while EUR/GBP fell 0.35% to 0.8375.
The US Dollar Index was up 0.52% at 95.51.