Investing.com – U.K. equities were higher at the close on Wednesday, as gains in the Oil Equipment Services & Distribution, General Retailers and Mining sectors propelled shares higher.
At the close in London, the Investing.com United Kingdom 100 added 0.72%.
The biggest gainers of the session on the Investing.com United Kingdom 100 were Kingfisher PLC (LON:KGF), which rose 5.41% or 12.40 points to trade at 241.60 at the close. Mediclinic International PLC (LON:MDCM) added 5.12% or 15.90 points to end at 326.50 and Antofagasta PLC (LON:ANTO) was up 5.10% or 45.40 points to 935.40 in late trade.
Biggest losers included J Sainsbury PLC (LON:SBRY), which lost 18.55% or 53.40 points to trade at 234.50 in late trade. Intu Properties PLC (LON:INTUP) declined 7.79% or 9.20 points to end at 108.95 and WM Morrison Supermarkets PLC (LON:MRW) shed 5.31% or 12.75 points to 227.25.
Advancing stocks outnumbered falling ones by 1259 to 802 and 314 ended unchanged on the London Stock Exchange.
In commodities trading, Gold Futures for April delivery was up 0.31% or 4.15 to $1348.95 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in April rose 1.77% or 1.00 to hit $57.45 a barrel, while the April Brent oil contract rose 1.28% or 0.85 to trade at $67.30 a barrel.
GBP/USD was up 0.23% to 1.3093, while EUR/GBP rose 0.06% to 0.8685.
The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.21% at 96.143.