Investing.com – Belgium stocks were higher after the close on Thursday, as gains in the Basic Materials, Industrials and Technology sectors led shares higher.
At the close in Brussels, the BEL 20 added 0.29%.
The best performers of the session on the BEL 20 were Ontex Group (BR:ONTEX), which rose 2.99% or 0.76 points to trade at 26.14 at the close. Meanwhile, Umicore SA (BR:UMI) added 2.68% or 1.23 points to end at 47.18 and Solvay SA (BR:SOLB) was up 1.35% or 1.50 points to 112.30 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Aperam SA (AS:APAM), which fell 0.89% or 0.39 points to trade at 43.36 at the close. Telenet Group (BR:TNET) declined 0.80% or 0.45 points to end at 56.15 and Engie SA (PA:ENGIE) was down 0.71% or 0.09 points to 12.52.
Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the Brussels Stock Exchange by 68 to 39 and 15 ended unchanged.
Gold Futures for April delivery was down 0.49% or 6.60 to $1351.40 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in March rose 0.23% or 0.14 to hit $60.74 a barrel, while the April Brent oil contract fell 0.56% or 0.36 to trade at $64.00 a barrel.
EUR/USD was up 0.12% to 1.2465, while EUR/GBP fell 0.19% to 0.8879.
The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.10% at 88.82.