Investing.com – U.K. equities were higher at the close on Wednesday, as gains in the Gas, Water & Multiutilities, Pharmaceuticals & Biotech and Tobacco sectors propelled shares higher.
At the close in London, the Investing.com United Kingdom 100 added 0.65%.
The biggest gainers of the session on the Investing.com United Kingdom 100 were Shire PLC (LON:SHP), which rose 14.01% or 430.00 points to trade at 3500.00 at the close. United Utilities Group PLC (LON:UU) added 8.32% or 55.60 points to end at 724.00 and Severn Trent PLC (LON:SVT) was up 6.08% or 106.00 points to 1848.00 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Antofagasta PLC (LON:ANTO), which lost 3.90% or 37.00 points to trade at 910.80 in late trade. Anglo American PLC (LON:AAL) declined 3.82% or 64.20 points to end at 1616.80 and Glencore PLC (LON:GLEN) shed 2.85% or 10.35 points to 353.15.
Declining stocks outnumbered rising ones by 1171 to 777 and 114 ended unchanged on the London Stock Exchange.
In commodities trading, Gold Futures for April delivery was down 1.28% or 17.20 to $1324.80 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in May fell 1.92% or 1.25 to hit $64.00 a barrel, while the June Brent oil contract fell 1.70% or 1.18 to trade at $68.28 a barrel.
GBP/USD was down 0.35% to 1.4108, while EUR/GBP fell 0.17% to 0.8750.
The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.58% at 89.48.