BEL 20 closes at 5,979.01 after 2.42% surge

The BEL 20 finished Wednesday's session at 5,979.01 points, rising 2.42% from Tuesday's close of 5,837.52. The 141.49-point advance took the Brussels benchmark to a new record closing level, according to La Libre. The session was already closed in Brussels by the late-evening reporting window, making this a closing report rather than an intraday update.

Political shift lifts European markets

The move in Brussels formed part of a broad European rally after Democrats won control of both chambers of the US Congress. A Reuters market report published by Euronext said the STOXX 600 rose 1.82% to 657.40 points. The report also described a 4.6% gain for European banks and highlighted a sharp decline in Brent crude, alongside gains in clean-energy shares.

For Belgian investors, the political development was therefore part of a wider market repricing rather than an isolated move in the domestic benchmark. Falling oil prices and expectations of less political support for additional military spending were cited in La Libre as factors behind the European advance.

Umicore leads the Brussels advance

Umicore was the strongest BEL 20 performer, gaining 6.25% to 18.87 euros. KBC Groep added 3.73% to 116.80 euros, while Solvay rose 3.41% to 24.26 euros, according to Investing.com. Melexis was the weakest constituent, falling 1.43% to 55.20 euros.

Market breadth was strongly positive: 69 stocks rose, 18 declined and 13 finished unchanged on the Brussels Stock Exchange. The scale of the advance also clearly exceeded Tuesday's 0.67% decline, when the BEL 20 had closed at 5,837.52 points, according to Investing.com. The new closing record improves the index's technical backdrop, but the next sessions will show whether the move is sustained as investors assess political, commodity and earnings developments.

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