Investing.com – U.K. equities were higher at the close on Thursday, as gains in the Electronic & Electrical Equipment, Oil Equipment Services & Distribution and General Retailers sectors propelled shares higher.
At the close in London, the Investing.com United Kingdom 100 gained 0.24%.
The biggest gainers of the session on the Investing.com United Kingdom 100 were Next PLC (LON:NXT), which rose 8.08% or 314.00 points to trade at 4199.00 at the close. Dixons Carphone PLC (LON:DC) added 4.07% or 12.30 points to end at 314.80 and Marks and Spencer Group PLC (LON:MKS) was up 3.82% or 12.40 points to 337.30 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Randgold Resources Ltd (LON:RRS), which lost 2.74% or 200.00 points to trade at 7095.00 in late trade. Glencore PLC (LON:GLEN) declined 2.40% or 7.90 points to end at 321.65 and Hikma Pharmaceuticals PLC (LON:HIK) shed 2.22% or 46.00 points to 2026.00.
Advancing stocks outnumbered falling ones by 1213 to 758 and 450 ended unchanged on the London Stock Exchange.
In commodities trading, Gold Futures for April delivery was down 0.31% or 3.85 to $1245.85 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in May fell 0.58% or 0.28 to hit $47.76 a barrel, while the May Brent oil contract fell 0.18% or 0.09 to trade at $50.55 a barrel.
GBP/USD was up 0.32% to 1.2525, while EUR/GBP fell 0.45% to 0.8609.
The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.07% at 99.55.