Investing.com – U.K. equities were lower at the close on Friday, as losses in the Pharmaceuticals & Biotech, Beverage and Healthcare Equipment & Services sectors propelled shares lower.
At the close in London, the Investing.com United Kingdom 100 declined 0.21%.
The biggest gainers of the session on the Investing.com United Kingdom 100 were ITV PLC (LON:ITV), which rose 3.33% or 5.90 points to trade at 182.80 at the close. Fresnillo PLC (LON:FRES) added 2.88% or 45.00 points to end at 1605.00 and Ashtead Group PLC (LON:AHT) was up 2.47% or 39.00 points to 1620.00 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Shire PLC (LON:SHP), which lost 2.32% or 107.50 points to trade at 4518.50 in late trade. Mediclinic International PLC (LON:MDCM) declined 2.26% or 17.50 points to end at 757.00 and BAE Systems PLC (LON:BAES) shed 2.18% or 14.50 points to 650.00.
Declining stocks outnumbered rising ones by 930 to 880 and 493 ended unchanged on the London Stock Exchange.
In commodities trading, Gold Futures for August delivery was up 0.62% or 7.79 to $1257.19 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in August rose 0.73% or 0.31 to hit $43.05 a barrel, while the August Brent oil contract rose 0.77% or 0.35 to trade at $45.57 a barrel.
GBP/USD was up 0.37% to 1.2729, while EUR/GBP rose 0.03% to 0.8796.
The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.32% at 96.95.