Investing.com – U.K. equities were higher at the close on Thursday, as gains in the Oil Equipment Services & Distribution, Industrial Engineering and Automobiles & Parts sectors propelled shares higher.
At the close in London, the Investing.com United Kingdom 100 rose 0.21% to hit a new 1-month high.
The biggest gainers of the session on the Investing.com United Kingdom 100 were Marks and Spencer Group PLC (LON:MKS), which rose 5.17% or 9.40 points to trade at 191.40 at the close. RSA Insurance Group PLC (LON:RSA) added 3.98% or 21.20 points to end at 553.40 and Persimmon PLC (LON:PSN) was up 3.78% or 86.00 points to 2362.00 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Hiscox Ltd (LON:HSX), which lost 9.72% or 135.00 points to trade at 1254.00 in late trade. Hikma Pharmaceuticals PLC (LON:HIK) declined 4.10% or 83.00 points to end at 1942.00 and Ocado Group PLC (LON:OCDO) shed 3.72% or 49.50 points to 1281.00.
Advancing stocks outnumbered falling ones by 1340 to 774 and 213 ended unchanged on the London Stock Exchange.
In commodities trading, Gold Futures for December delivery was down 1.83% or 27.25 to $1465.85 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in December rose 2.40% or 1.35 to hit $57.70 a barrel, while the January Brent oil contract rose 1.55% or 0.96 to trade at $62.70 a barrel.
GBP/USD was down 0.26% to 1.2816, while EUR/GBP rose 0.12% to 0.8616.
The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.28% at 98.035.