Investing.com – U.K. equities were higher at the close on Thursday, as gains in the Beverage, Healthcare Equipment & Services and Industrial Engineering sectors propelled shares higher.
At the close in London, the Investing.com United Kingdom 100 gained 0.91%.
The biggest gainers of the session on the Investing.com United Kingdom 100 were Capita PLC (LON:CPI), which rose 6.44% or 10.25 points to trade at 169.40 at the close. Merlin Entertainments PLC (LON:MERL) added 5.45% or 19.40 points to end at 375.20 and Mediclinic International PLC (LON:MDCM) was up 4.95% or 28.60 points to 607.00 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Persimmon PLC (LON:PSN), which lost 3.59% or 95.00 points to trade at 2548.00 in late trade. Marks and Spencer Group PLC (LON:MKS) declined 3.26% or 9.40 points to end at 278.60 and Anglo American PLC (LON:AAL) shed 2.94% or 51.80 points to 1707.20.
Advancing stocks outnumbered falling ones by 1213 to 683 and 148 ended unchanged on the London Stock Exchange.
In commodities trading, Gold Futures for April delivery was down 0.46% or 6.10 to $1321.50 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in April fell 1.01% or 0.62 to hit $60.53 a barrel, while the May Brent oil contract fell 0.71% or 0.46 to trade at $63.88 a barrel.
GBP/USD was down 0.56% to 1.3822, while EUR/GBP fell 0.19% to 0.8913.
The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.58% at 90.08.