Investing.com – U.K. equities were higher at the close on Thursday, as gains in the Software & Computer Services, Pharmaceuticals & Biotech and Aerospace & Defense sectors propelled shares higher.
At the close in London, the Investing.com United Kingdom 100 rose 0.34% to hit a new 3-month high.
The biggest gainers of the session on the Investing.com United Kingdom 100 were Micro Focus International PLC (LON:MCRO), which rose 12.26% or 186.00 points to trade at 1703.50 at the close. AstraZeneca PLC (LON:AZN) added 7.48% or 428.00 points to end at 6149.00 and Mediclinic International PLC (LON:MDCM) was up 2.71% or 8.40 points to 318.60 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Coca Cola HBC AG (LON:CCH), which lost 8.57% or 231.0 points to trade at 2463.0 in late trade. Capita PLC (LON:CPI) declined 2.79% or 3.30 points to end at 115.10 and Next PLC (LON:NXT) shed 2.68% or 133.00 points to 4826.00.
Declining stocks outnumbered rising ones by 1134 to 957 and 299 ended unchanged on the London Stock Exchange.
In commodities trading, Gold Futures for April delivery was down 0.04% or 0.55 to $1314.55 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in March rose 0.65% or 0.35 to hit $54.25 a barrel, while the April Brent oil contract rose 1.27% or 0.81 to trade at $64.42 a barrel.
GBP/USD was down 0.33% to 1.2801, while EUR/GBP rose 0.59% to 0.8816.
The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.02% at 96.922.