Belgian equities ended Wednesday's session in negative territory as sector pressure from Healthcare, Basic Materials and Utilities pushed the benchmark lower.
At the close in Brussels, the BEL 20 index fell 0.72%.
Top performers on the BEL 20
- Montea C.V.A. (EBR:MONTE) led gains on the index, rising 3.70% - a 2.40 point increase - to finish at 67.30.
- Azelis Corporate Services NV (EBR:AZE) advanced 3.60%, up 0.35 points to close at 9.93.
- Anheuser Busch Inbev SA NV (EBR:ABI) also posted a positive close, trading 3.10% higher - a 2.24 point gain - to end the session at 74.44.
Largest decliners
- Argen-X (EBR:ARGX) was the weakest name on the BEL 20, plunging 7.92% or 64.40 points to close at 748.60.
- Umicore SA (EBR:UMI) fell 6.66%, a drop of 1.50 points, finishing at 21.02.
- Aperam SA (AS:APAM) declined 4.23%, losing 1.98 points to end at 44.78.
Across the Brussels Stock Exchange, decliners marginally outnumbered advancers: 45 stocks fell while 42 rose, and 19 issues finished unchanged.
Notable milestone
Shares of Anheuser Busch Inbev SA NV (EBR:ABI) reached five-year highs during the session, closing up 3.10% at 74.44.
Commodities and currency moves
Gold Futures for August delivery fell 3.13%, down $129.73, to settle at $4,019.67 per troy ounce. In energy markets, crude oil for August delivery dropped 3.81%, a decline of $2.79, to $70.42 a barrel. The September Brent contract decreased 3.62%, or $2.78, to trade at $74.02 a barrel.
Currency moves were muted: the EUR/USD pair was essentially unchanged, quoted at 1.13 with a 0.28% notation, and EUR/GBP was unchanged at 0.86.
The US Dollar Index futures were up modestly by 0.22%, trading at 101.39.
Market participants in Brussels closed the session with the BEL 20 lower by 0.72%, driven by losses in key sectors and weighed down by several sizable single-stock declines, while a handful of names delivered outsized gains.