Market close overview
Belgian stocks ended the session lower on Thursday, with sectoral declines in Technology, Healthcare and Utilities contributing to the downward move. At the close in Brussels the BEL 20 index fell 1.01%.
Top performers on the BEL 20
Among constituents, Elia (EBR:ELI) finished the session higher, rising 2.73% or 3.50 points to close at 131.50. Azelis Corporate Services NV (EBR:AZE) added 2.17% or 0.17 points to end the day at 7.78. Syensqo SA (EBR:SYENS) was also among the session's gainers, up 2.04% or 1.08 points to 54.02 in late trade.
Lagging names
On the downside, Melexis NV (EBR:MLXS) posted the largest decline among the cited names, falling 4.23% or 2.35 points to close at 53.25. Cofinimmo SA (EBR:COFB) dropped 3.62% or 3.10 points to finish at 82.50, while Argen-X (EBR:ARGX) fell 2.55% or 16.40 points to 626.00.
Market breadth
Decliners outnumbered advancers on the Brussels Stock Exchange by 60 to 31, with 15 stocks ending the session unchanged.
Commodities and currencies
In commodities trading, Gold Futures for April delivery were down 0.78% or 39.89 to $5,094.81 a troy ounce. Crude oil for April delivery rose 6.30% or 4.70 to $79.36 a barrel, and the May Brent oil contract increased 3.66% or 2.98 to trade at $84.38 a barrel.
On the currency front EUR/USD was reported unchanged at 1.16, while EUR/GBP was unchanged at 0.87. The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.47% at 99.19.
Contextual note
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