Investing.com – U.K. equities were higher at the close on Wednesday, as gains in the Healthcare Equipment & Services, Mobile Telecommunications and Tobacco sectors propelled shares higher.
At the close in London, the Investing.com United Kingdom 100 rose 0.25%.
The biggest gainers of the session on the Investing.com United Kingdom 100 were Burberry Group PLC (LON:BRBY), which rose 4.40% or 31.00 points to trade at 735.60 at the close. Smith & Nephew PLC (LON:SN) added 2.49% or 26.50 points to end at 1,089.00 and BT Group PLC (LON:BT) was up 2.36% or 3.25 points to 140.90 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Antofagasta PLC (LON:ANTO), which lost 6.11% or 130.00 points to trade at 1,998.00 in late trade. Intermediate Capital Group PLC (LON:ICGIN) declined 4.71% or 104.00 points to end at 2,106.00 and Melrose Industries PLC (LON:MRON) shed 3.31% or 19.40 points to 567.00.
Declining stocks outnumbered rising ones by 901 to 880 and 706 ended unchanged on the London Stock Exchange.
In commodities trading, Gold Futures for August delivery was down 0.08% or 2.00 to $2,465.80 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in September rose 1.86% or 1.48 to hit $81.19 a barrel, while the September Brent oil contract rose 1.41% or 1.18 to trade at $84.91 a barrel.
GBP/USD was unchanged 0.30% to 1.30, while EUR/GBP unchanged 0.05% to 0.84.
The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.39% at 103.55.