Investing.com – U.K. equities were lower at the close on Wednesday, as losses in the Oil Equipment Services & Distribution, Gas, Water & Multiutilities and Automobiles & Parts sectors propelled shares lower.
At the close in London, the Investing.com United Kingdom 100 declined 0.04%.
The biggest gainers of the session on the Investing.com United Kingdom 100 were Dixons Carphone PLC (LON:DC), which rose 8.48% or 14.20 points to trade at 181.60 at the close. Provident Financial (LON:PFG) added 4.93% or 39.50 points to end at 840.50 and Hargreaves Lansdown PLC (LON:HRGV) was up 4.44% or 72.00 points to 1693.00 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Ashtead Group PLC (LON:AHT), which lost 5.39% or 111.00 points to trade at 1949.00 in late trade. Centrica PLC (LON:CNA) declined 3.66% or 5.30 points to end at 139.50 and Shire PLC (LON:SHP) shed 2.21% or 83.00 points to 3677.50.
Declining stocks outnumbered rising ones by 1085 to 1034 and 166 ended unchanged on the London Stock Exchange.
In commodities trading, Gold Futures for February delivery was up 0.56% or 6.90 to $1248.60 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in January fell 0.72% or 0.41 to hit $56.73 a barrel, while the February Brent oil contract fell 1.29% or 0.82 to trade at $62.52 a barrel.
GBP/USD was up 0.32% to 1.3360, while EUR/GBP fell 0.12% to 0.8806.
The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.20% at 93.87.