Investing.com – Belgium stocks were higher after the close on Wednesday, as gains in the Utilities, Basic Materials and Telecoms sectors led shares higher.
At the close in Brussels, the BEL 20 rose 0.75%.
The best performers of the session on the BEL 20 were Aperam SA (AS:APAM), which rose 2.61% or 1.08 points to trade at 42.59 at the close. Meanwhile, Engie SA (PA:ENGIE) added 2.33% or 0.31 points to end at 13.60 and Solvay SA (BR:SOLB) was up 1.46% or 1.80 points to 125.10 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Galapagos NV (AS:GLPG), which fell 3.43% or 2.290 points to trade at 64.500 at the close. bpost NV (BR:BPOST) declined 0.66% or 0.14 points to end at 21.82 and NV Bekaert SA (BR:BEKB) was down 0.45% or 0.21 points to 46.00.
Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the Brussels Stock Exchange by 54 to 51 and 14 ended unchanged.
Gold Futures for August delivery was down 0.11% or 1.34 to $1240.56 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in August rose 1.27% or 0.59 to hit $46.99 a barrel, while the September Brent oil contract rose 1.33% or 0.65 to trade at $49.49 a barrel.
EUR/USD was down 0.29% to 1.1521, while EUR/GBP fell 0.23% to 0.8839.
The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.13% at 94.57.