The Belgian stock market rallied on Monday following US President Joe Biden's withdrawal from the presidential race.
The BEL 20 index climbed by as much as 1.85% before confirming an increase of 1.23% to close at 4,033.01 points, with all its constituents gaining except arGEN-X (427.90), which lost 0.21%.
Three constituents of the BEL 20 posted increases of more than 2%, led by Galapagos (24.66) and UCB (143.90), which soared by 2.92 and 2.68% respectively, ahead of D’Ieteren (210.20) with a rise of 2.14%.
Syensqo (82.59) and Solvay (34.14) appreciated by 1.50 and 0.38%, while Lotus Bakeries (10,080) and AB InBev (56.02) rose by 1.82 and 0.97%, with KBC (68.52) up by 1.33%.
Melexis (82.30) and Umicore (14.20) rose by 1.73 and 1.43% respectively, Elia (91.90) by 0.82%, Ackermans (170.70) and Sofina (211.40) by 1.07% and 1.05%, and Cofinimmo (60.80) and WDP (26.62) by 0.83 and 0.99%.
Barco (11.63) and Econocom (2.195) also went up by 3.6% and 2.1%; Recticel (13.24) and Jensen (40.40) advanced by 2.5% and 2%, while Euronav (15.35) and Bpost (2.68) grew by 2% and 2.1% respectively.
IBA (13.40) was worth 4.7% more than on Friday while Biotalys (2.77) and Onward Medical (5.10) gained 3.3% and 1.6% respectively, unlike Sequana Medical (1.11) and Biosenic (0.0106) which dropped by 3.5 and 3.6%.
At around 4:30 pm, the euro was registered at $1.0875, compared to $1.0885 last Friday. Gold bullion traded at around €70,525, down by €415.
