Investing.com – U.K. equities were higher at the close on Thursday, as gains in the Oil Equipment Services & Distribution, Pharmaceuticals & Biotech and Electrical sectors propelled shares higher.
At the close in London, the Investing.com United Kingdom 100 rose 0.48% to hit a new 3-month high.
The biggest gainers of the session on the Investing.com United Kingdom 100 were Glencore PLC (LON:GLEN), which rose 2.33% or 5.45 points to trade at 239.65 at the close. Kingfisher PLC (LON:KGF) added 2.09% or 4.50 points to end at 219.90 and AstraZeneca PLC (LON:AZN) was up 2.06% or 154.00 points to 7634.00 in late trade.
Biggest losers included NMC Health PLC (LON:NMC), which lost 11.13% or 192.50 points to trade at 1536.50 in late trade. Pearson PLC (LON:PSON) declined 6.11% or 40.00 points to end at 615.00 and Hargreaves Lansdown PLC (LON:HRGV) shed 3.19% or 64.50 points to 1958.50.
Advancing stocks outnumbered falling ones by 1097 to 998 and 243 ended unchanged on the London Stock Exchange.
In commodities trading, Gold Futures for February delivery was up 0.38% or 5.55 to $1484.25 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in February rose 0.51% or 0.31 to hit $61.16 a barrel, while the February Brent oil contract rose 0.50% or 0.33 to trade at $66.50 a barrel.
GBP/USD was down 0.36% to 1.3029, while EUR/GBP rose 0.54% to 0.8541.
The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.05% at 96.910.