Investing.com – U.K. equities were lower at the close on Wednesday, as losses in the General Retailers, Tobacco and Food Producers sectors propelled shares lower.
At the close in London, the Investing.com United Kingdom 100 lost 0.33% to hit a new 52-week low.
The biggest gainers of the session on the Investing.com United Kingdom 100 were Hammerson PLC (LON:HMSO), which rose 5.24% or 28.40 points to trade at 570.00 at the close. Antofagasta PLC (LON:ANTO) added 2.88% or 27.20 points to end at 971.80 and London Stock Exchange Group PLC (LON:LSE) was up 2.83% or 114.00 points to 4150.00 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Kingfisher PLC (LON:KGF), which lost 10.69% or 36.10 points to trade at 301.60 in late trade. Intu Properties PLC (LON:INTUP) declined 4.31% or 9.30 points to end at 206.70 and Provident Financial (LON:PFG) shed 3.15% or 29.00 points to 892.60.
Declining stocks outnumbered rising ones by 1156 to 793 and 136 ended unchanged on the London Stock Exchange.
In commodities trading, Gold Futures for April delivery was up 0.74% or 9.70 to $1321.60 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in May rose 2.30% or 1.46 to hit $65.00 a barrel, while the May Brent oil contract rose 2.48% or 1.67 to trade at $69.09 a barrel.
GBP/USD was up 0.53% to 1.4072, while EUR/GBP fell 0.35% to 0.8715.
The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.24% at 89.79.