Investing.com – Belgium stocks were higher after the close on Friday, as gains in the Basic Materials, Financials and Industrials sectors led shares higher.
At the close in Brussels, the BEL 20 added 0.72%.
The best performers of the session on the BEL 20 were Umicore NV (BR:UMI), which rose 1.91% or 1.18 points to trade at 62.87 at the close. Meanwhile, Solvay SA (BR:SOLB) added 1.79% or 2.10 points to end at 119.60 and ING Groep NV (AS:INGA) was up 1.64% or 0.250 points to 15.520 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were UCB (BR:UCB), which fell 1.01% or 0.64 points to trade at 62.56 at the close. Engie SA (PA:ENGIE) declined 0.39% or 0.06 points to end at 13.93 and Etablissementen Fr Colruyt NV (BR:COLR) was down 0.12% or 0.06 points to 47.66.
Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the Brussels Stock Exchange by 60 to 52 and 8 ended unchanged.
Shares in Umicore NV (BR:UMI) rose to all time highs; up 1.91% or 1.18 to 62.87.
Gold Futures for August delivery was down 0.60% or 7.69 to $1271.81 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in July rose 0.83% or 0.38 to hit $46.02 a barrel, while the August Brent oil contract rose 1.00% or 0.48 to trade at $48.34 a barrel.
EUR/USD was down 0.12% to 1.1196, while EUR/GBP rose 0.72% to 0.8797.
The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.33% at 97.27.