Investing.com – Belgium stocks were lower after the close on Friday, as losses in the Healthcare, Pharma & Bio-technology and Beverage sectors led shares lower.
At the close in Brussels, the BEL 20 lost 1.28%.
The best performers of the session on the BEL 20 were Umicore NV (BR:UMI), which rose 3.47% or 1.16 points to trade at 34.42 at the close. Meanwhile, Solvay SA (BR:SOLB) added 1.70% or 1.26 points to end at 75.46 and NV Bekaert SA (BR:BEKB) was up 1.44% or 0.41 points to 28.97 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were UCB (BR:UCB), which fell 3.34% or 2.51 points to trade at 72.75 at the close. Ageas (BR:AGES) declined 2.70% or 0.955 points to end at 34.445 and Telenet Group (BR:TNET) was down 2.50% or 1.16 points to 44.98.
Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the Brussels Stock Exchange by 100 to 45 and 12 ended unchanged.
Shares in Telenet Group (BR:TNET) fell to 52-week lows; falling 2.50% or 1.16 to 44.98.
Gold for April delivery was up 0.04% or 0.50 to $1158.00 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in March fell 1.09% or 0.34 to hit $31.38 a barrel, while the April Brent oil contract fell 0.59% or 0.20 to trade at $34.26 a barrel.
EUR/USD was down 0.58% to 1.1142, while EUR/GBP rose 0.21% to 0.7700.
The US Dollar Index was up 0.59% at 97.08.