Investing.com – U.K. equities were higher at the close on Friday, as gains in the Healthcare Equipment & Services, Tobacco and Fixed Line Telecommunications sectors propelled shares higher.
At the close in London, the Investing.com United Kingdom 100 gained 0.22% to hit a new 1-month high.
The biggest gainers of the session on the Investing.com United Kingdom 100 were Mediclinic International PLC (LON:MDCM), which rose 3.31% or 22.00 points to trade at 686.00 at the close. Direct Line Insurance Group PLC (LON:DLGD) added 2.42% or 8.60 points to end at 364.30 and Admiral Group PLC (LON:ADML) was up 2.32% or 42.00 points to 1853.00 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Hikma Pharmaceuticals PLC (LON:HIK), which lost 1.88% or 23.00 points to trade at 1199.00 in late trade. Centrica PLC (LON:CNA) declined 1.69% or 3.00 points to end at 174.50 and EasyJet PLC (LON:EZJ) shed 1.64% or 21.00 points to 1263.00.
Advancing stocks outnumbered falling ones by 982 to 936 and 469 ended unchanged on the London Stock Exchange.
In commodities trading, Gold Futures for December delivery was up 0.30% or 3.83 to $1277.03 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in November fell 3.01% or 1.53 to hit $49.26 a barrel, while the December Brent oil contract fell 2.81% or 1.60 to trade at $55.40 a barrel.
GBP/USD was down 0.50% to 1.3053, while EUR/GBP rose 0.67% to 0.8986.
The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.09% at 93.69.