Investing.com – Belgium stocks were higher after the close on Thursday, as gains in the Healthcare, Utilities and Financials sectors led shares higher.
At the close in Brussels, the BEL 20 gained 0.32% to hit a new 52-week high.
The best performers of the session on the BEL 20 were Galapagos NV (AS:GLPG), which rose 2.53% or 2.090 points to trade at 84.600 at the close. Meanwhile, Ontex Group (BR:ONTEX) added 1.50% or 0.45 points to end at 30.16 and UCB (BR:UCB) was up 1.21% or 0.87 points to 72.72 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Umicore NV (BR:UMI), which fell 1.17% or 0.62 points to trade at 52.30 at the close. Telenet Group (BR:TNET) declined 0.78% or 0.44 points to end at 55.64 and Aperam (AS:APAM) was down 0.61% or 0.28 points to 46.30.
Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the Brussels Stock Exchange by 63 to 47 and 15 ended unchanged.
Shares in Galapagos NV (AS:GLPG) rose to all time highs; rising 2.53% or 2.090 to 84.600.
Gold Futures for June delivery was up 0.41% or 5.15 to $1253.65 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in May rose 1.08% or 0.55 to hit $51.70 a barrel, while the June Brent oil contract rose 1.01% or 0.55 to trade at $54.91 a barrel.
EUR/USD was down 0.08% to 1.0655, while EUR/GBP fell 0.05% to 0.8538.
The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.08% at 100.54.