Investing.com – U.K. equities were higher at the close on Wednesday, as gains in the Automobiles & Parts, Healthcare Equipment & Services and Industrial Transportation sectors propelled shares higher.
At the close in London, the Investing.com United Kingdom 100 rose 0.21%.
The biggest gainers of the session on the Investing.com United Kingdom 100 were St. James's Place PLC (LON:SJP), which rose 3.59% or 18.00 points to trade at 520.00 at the close. Smith & Nephew PLC (LON:SN) added 3.30% or 32.80 points to end at 1,028.00 and Rentokil Initial PLC (LON:RTO) was up 2.59% or 11.00 points to 435.00 in late trade.
Biggest losers included B&M European Value Retail SA (LON:BMEB), which lost 7.28% or 39.80 points to trade at 506.60 in late trade. Centrica PLC (LON:CNA) declined 4.82% or 6.85 points to end at 135.40 and JD Sports Fashion PLC (LON:JD) shed 4.57% or 6.05 points to 126.30.
Advancing stocks outnumbered falling ones by 952 to 856 and 701 ended unchanged on the London Stock Exchange.
In commodities trading, Gold Futures for August delivery was up 1.15% or 27.00 to $2,374.40 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in July rose 0.53% or 0.39 to hit $73.64 a barrel, while the August Brent oil contract rose 0.54% or 0.42 to trade at $77.94 a barrel.
GBP/USD was unchanged 0.03% to 1.28, while EUR/GBP unchanged 0.14% to 0.85.
The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.29% at 104.36.