Belgium shares higher at close of trade; BEL 20 up 0.63%

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

At the close in Brussels, the BEL 20 gained 0.63% to hit a new 52-week high.

The biggest gainers of the session on the BEL 20 were Galapagos NV (AS:GLPG), which rose 3.26% or 0.88 points to trade at 27.88 at the close. UCB SA (EBR:UCB) added 3.21% or 5.50 points to end at 176.70 and Groep Brussel Lambert NV (EBR:GBLB) was up 1.08% or 0.75 points to 70.00 in late trade.

Biggest losers included Solvay SA (EBR:SOLB), which lost 2.24% or 0.88 points to trade at 38.44 in late trade. Syensqo SA (EBR:SYENS) declined 1.73% or 1.28 points to end at 72.56 and Cofinimmo SA (EBR:COFB) shed 1.23% or 0.80 points to 64.25.

Advancing stocks outnumbered falling ones by 47 to 46 and 14 ended unchanged on the Brussels Stock Exchange.

In commodities trading, Gold Futures for December delivery was up 0.53% or 14.20 to $2,705.50 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in November rose 0.18% or 0.13 to hit $70.52 a barrel, while the December Brent oil contract rose 0.04% or 0.03 to trade at $74.25 a barrel.

EUR/USD was unchanged 0.28% to 1.08, while EUR/GBP unchanged 0.38% to 0.83.

The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.20% at 103.61.