Investing.com – U.K. equities were higher at the close on Wednesday, as gains in the Oil Equipment Services & Distribution, Pharmaceuticals & Biotech and Oil & Gas Producers sectors propelled shares higher.
At the close in London, the Investing.com United Kingdom 100 gained 0.49%.
The biggest gainers of the session on the Investing.com United Kingdom 100 were G4S PLC (L:GFS), which rose 3.98% or 8.60 points to trade at 224.60 at the close. BP PLC (L:BP) added 3.95% or 12.7500 points to end at 335.8500 and Sports Direct International PLC (L:SPD) was up 3.83% or 15.800 points to 427.800 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Merlin Entertainments PLC (L:MERL), which lost 2.69% or 11.90 points to trade at 429.80 in late trade. Lloyds Banking Group PLC (L:LLOY) declined 2.17% or 1.5000 points to end at 67.8000 and SKY PLC (L:SKYB) shed 1.81% or 20.00 points to 1083.00.
Advancing stocks outnumbered falling ones by 1171 to 1042 and 359 ended unchanged on the London Stock Exchange.
In commodities trading, Gold for February delivery was up 0.54% or 5.90 to $1091.10 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in February rose 0.10% or 0.03 to hit $30.47 a barrel, while the March Brent oil contract fell 1.78% or 0.55 to trade at $30.40 a barrel.
GBP/USD was up 0.02% to 1.4451, while EUR/GBP fell 0.12% to 0.7509.
The US Dollar Index was up 0.08% at 99.10.