Investing.com – U.K. equities were lower at the close on Thursday, as losses in the Software & Computer Services, Oil Equipment Services & Distribution and General Retailers sectors propelled shares lower.
At the close in London, the Investing.com United Kingdom 100 lost 0.09%.
The biggest gainers of the session on the Investing.com United Kingdom 100 were Schroders PLC (LON:SDR), which rose 2.87% or 79.00 points to trade at 2834.00 at the close. Royal Mail PLC (LON:RMG) added 2.09% or 5.40 points to end at 263.30 and Ashtead Group PLC (LON:AHT) was up 2.03% or 40.00 points to 2009.00 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Micro Focus International PLC (LON:MCRO), which lost 5.95% or 123.00 points to trade at 1944.00 in late trade. Direct Line Insurance Group PLC (LON:DLGD) declined 5.42% or 19.40 points to end at 338.80 and Lloyds Banking Group PLC (LON:LLOY) shed 3.48% or 2.26 points to 62.62.
Declining stocks outnumbered rising ones by 1151 to 993 and 307 ended unchanged on the London Stock Exchange.
In commodities trading, Gold Futures for June delivery was down 0.22% or 2.85 to $1292.45 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in May rose 0.03% or 0.02 to hit $62.48 a barrel, while the June Brent oil contract rose 0.52% or 0.36 to trade at $69.67 a barrel.
GBP/USD was down 0.70% to 1.3067, while EUR/GBP rose 0.57% to 0.8583.
The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.28% at 96.928.