Investing.com – U.K. equities were lower at the close on Wednesday, as losses in the Pharmaceuticals & Biotech, Construction & Materials and Household Goods & Home Construction sectors propelled shares lower.
At the close in London, the Investing.com United Kingdom 100 fell 0.72% to hit a new 1-month low.
The biggest gainers of the session on the Investing.com United Kingdom 100 were Johnson Matthey PLC (LON:JMAT), which rose 4.59% or 152.00 points to trade at 3460.00 at the close. BAE Systems PLC (LON:BAES) added 1.75% or 10.20 points to end at 594.00 and Rolls-Royce Holdings PLC (LON:RR) was up 1.47% or 12.60 points to 872.00 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Capita PLC (LON:CPI), which lost 47.53% or 165.30 points to trade at 182.50 in late trade. Hikma Pharmaceuticals PLC (LON:HIK) declined 3.49% or 35.00 points to end at 967.00 and Shire PLC (LON:SHP) shed 2.89% or 99.00 points to 3327.50.
Declining stocks outnumbered rising ones by 1037 to 904 and 143 ended unchanged on the London Stock Exchange.
In commodities trading, Gold Futures for February delivery was up 0.35% or 4.70 to $1340.10 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in March unchanged 0.00% or 0.00 to hit $64.50 a barrel, while the April Brent oil contract rose 0.12% or 0.08 to trade at $68.60 a barrel.
GBP/USD was up 0.28% to 1.4186, while EUR/GBP fell 0.07% to 0.8760.
The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.13% at 88.90.