Investing.com – U.K. equities were higher at the close on Thursday, as gains in the Insurance, Automobiles & Parts and Travel & Leisure sectors propelled shares higher.
At the close in London, the Investing.com United Kingdom 100 rose 1.08% to hit a new 1-month high.
The biggest gainers of the session on the Investing.com United Kingdom 100 were Admiral Group PLC (LON:ADML), which rose 6.51% or 183.00 points to trade at 2,993.00 at the close. Standard Chartered PLC (LON:STAN) added 3.71% or 27.20 points to end at 760.80 and Smurfit Kappa Group PLC (LON:SWR) was up 3.57% or 113.00 points to 3,280.00 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Rio Tinto PLC (LON:RIO), which lost 2.10% or 102.00 points to trade at 4,751.00 in late trade. Barratt Developments PLC (LON:BDEV) declined 1.42% or 7.80 points to end at 541.40 and United Utilities Group PLC (LON:UU) shed 1.18% or 12.00 points to 1,002.50.
Advancing stocks outnumbered falling ones by 1221 to 540 and 698 ended unchanged on the London Stock Exchange.
In commodities trading, Gold Futures for December delivery was up 0.69% or 17.00 to $2,496.70 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in September rose 1.77% or 1.36 to hit $78.34 a barrel, while the October Brent oil contract rose 1.82% or 1.45 to trade at $81.21 a barrel.
GBP/USD was unchanged 0.34% to 1.29, while EUR/GBP unchanged 0.50% to 0.85.
The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.31% at 102.71.