Investing.com – U.K. equities were higher at the close on Friday, as gains in the Tobacco, Oil & Gas Producers and Automobiles & Parts sectors propelled shares higher.
At the close in London, the Investing.com United Kingdom 100 added 0.30%.
The biggest gainers of the session on the Investing.com United Kingdom 100 were BP PLC (LON:BP), which rose 2.75% or 13.20 points to trade at 494.05 at the close. British American Tobacco PLC (LON:BATS) added 2.67% or 87.00 points to end at 3352.00 and Fresnillo PLC (LON:FRES) was up 2.64% or 17.00 points to 661.00 in late trade.
Biggest losers included EasyJet PLC (LON:EZJ), which lost 3.36% or 48.00 points to trade at 1382.00 in late trade. Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC (LON:RBS) declined 2.46% or 6.00 points to end at 238.30 and Antofagasta PLC (LON:ANTO) shed 2.35% or 22.20 points to 922.80.
Declining stocks outnumbered rising ones by 1306 to 822 and 203 ended unchanged on the London Stock Exchange.
In commodities trading, Gold Futures for February delivery was up 1.57% or 23.95 to $1552.05 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in February rose 2.48% or 1.52 to hit $62.70 a barrel, while the March Brent oil contract rose 3.05% or 2.02 to trade at $68.27 a barrel.
GBP/USD was down 0.43% to 1.3087, while EUR/GBP rose 0.47% to 0.8538.
The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.06% at 96.470.