Investing.com – Belgium stocks were higher after the close on Thursday, as gains in the Utilities, Consumer Services and Technology sectors led shares higher.
At the close in Brussels, the BEL 20 rose 0.39%.
The best performers of the session on the BEL 20 were Engie SA (PA:ENGIE), which rose 2.43% or 0.33 points to trade at 13.89 at the close. Meanwhile, bpost NV (BR:BPOST) added 2.01% or 0.29 points to end at 14.70 and Galapagos NV (AS:GLPG) was up 1.69% or 1.460 points to 88.080 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Aperam SA (AS:APAM), which fell 3.10% or 1.26 points to trade at 39.33 at the close. ING Groep NV (AS:INGA) declined 0.61% or 0.078 points to end at 12.722 and KBC (BR:KBC) was down 0.53% or 0.360 points to 66.940.
Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the Brussels Stock Exchange by 65 to 50 and 17 ended unchanged.
Gold Futures for August delivery was up 0.49% or 6.40 to $1307.70 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in July rose 0.05% or 0.03 to hit $66.67 a barrel, while the August Brent oil contract fell 0.86% or 0.66 to trade at $76.08 a barrel.
EUR/USD was down 1.39% to 1.1627, while EUR/GBP fell 0.93% to 0.8734.
The US Dollar Index Futures was up 1.04% at 94.53.