Investing.com – U.K. equities were higher at the close on Thursday, as gains in the Oil Equipment Services & Distribution, Construction & Materials and Industrial Engineering sectors propelled shares higher.
At the close in London, the Investing.com United Kingdom 100 rose 0.24% to hit a new all time high.
The biggest gainers of the session on the Investing.com United Kingdom 100 were Capita PLC (LON:CPI), which rose 3.99% or 15.90 points to trade at 414.60 at the close. Worldpay Group PLC (LON:WPG) added 3.03% or 12.80 points to end at 435.60 and CRH PLC (LON:CRH) was up 2.43% or 65.00 points to 2744.00 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Marks and Spencer Group PLC (LON:MKS), which lost 3.65% or 11.70 points to trade at 308.80 in late trade. British Land Company PLC (LON:BLND) declined 3.03% or 20.80 points to end at 665.20 and Hammerson PLC (LON:HMSO) shed 2.52% or 13.80 points to 533.20.
Advancing stocks outnumbered falling ones by 1296 to 713 and 132 ended unchanged on the London Stock Exchange.
In commodities trading, Gold Futures for February delivery was up 0.09% or 1.20 to $1319.70 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in February rose 0.73% or 0.45 to hit $62.08 a barrel, while the March Brent oil contract rose 0.22% or 0.15 to trade at $67.99 a barrel.
GBP/USD was up 0.16% to 1.3538, while EUR/GBP rose 0.24% to 0.8911.
The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.24% at 91.67.