Belgium shares higher at close of trade; BEL 20 up 0.50%

Investing.com – Belgium equities were higher at the close on Thursday, as gains in the Healthcare, Consumer Services and Utilities sectors propelled shares higher.

At the close in Brussels, the BEL 20 rose 0.50% to hit a new 52-week high.

The biggest gainers of the session on the BEL 20 were Argen-X (EBR:ARGX), which rose 3.58% or 16.80 points to trade at 486.30 at the close. Cofinimmo SA (EBR:COFB) added 3.11% or 1.95 points to end at 64.75 and Elia (EBR:ELI) was up 2.97% or 2.95 points to 102.20 in late trade.

Biggest losers included UCB SA (EBR:UCB), which lost 2.83% or 4.65 points to trade at 159.60 in late trade. Syensqo SA (EBR:SYENS) declined 1.90% or 1.40 points to end at 72.10 and Galapagos NV (AS:GLPG) shed 1.78% or 0.46 points to 25.40.

Declining stocks outnumbered rising ones by 48 to 45 and 12 ended unchanged on the Brussels Stock Exchange.

In commodities trading, Gold Futures for December delivery was up 0.50% or 12.60 to $2,538.60 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in October rose 0.43% or 0.30 to hit $69.50 a barrel, while the November Brent oil contract rose 0.41% or 0.30 to trade at $73.00 a barrel.

EUR/USD was unchanged 0.18% to 1.11, while EUR/GBP unchanged 0.02% to 0.84.

The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.22% at 101.08.