Belgium shares higher at close of trade; BEL 20 up 0.68%

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

At the close in Brussels, the BEL 20 rose 0.68% to hit a new 52-week high.

The biggest gainers of the session on the BEL 20 were Aperam SA (AS:APAM), which rose 4.25% or 1.10 points to trade at 26.98 at the close. Umicore SA (EBR:UMI) added 4.20% or 0.46 points to end at 11.40 and Anheuser Busch Inbev SA NV (EBR:ABI) was up 3.21% or 1.82 points to 58.56 in late trade.

Biggest losers included UCB SA (EBR:UCB), which lost 2.82% or 4.75 points to trade at 163.85 in late trade. Argen-X (EBR:ARGX) declined 1.75% or 8.50 points to end at 476.60 and D’Ieteren NV (EBR:IETB) shed 0.47% or 0.90 points to 191.60.

Advancing stocks outnumbered falling ones by 61 to 34 and 11 ended unchanged on the Brussels Stock Exchange.

In commodities trading, Gold Futures for December delivery was up 0.21% or 5.60 to $2,690.30 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in November fell 2.11% or 1.47 to hit $68.22 a barrel, while the December Brent oil contract fell 1.84% or 1.34 to trade at $71.56 a barrel.

EUR/USD was unchanged 0.36% to 1.12, while EUR/GBP unchanged 0.31% to 0.83.

The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.29% at 100.33.