Investing.com – U.K. stocks were higher after the close on Thursday, as gains in the Food & Drug Retailers, Mobile Telecommunications and Construction & Materials sectors led shares higher.
At the close in London, the FTSE 100 rose 2.34%.
The best performers of the session on the FTSE 100 were Tesco (LONDON:TSCO), which rose 14.97% or 27.25 points to trade at 209.25 at the close. Meanwhile, Sainsbury(J) (LONDON:SBRY) added 9.93% or 22.80 points to end at 252.40 and Morrison(Wm.)Supermarkets (LONDON:MRW) was up 7.76% or 13.30 points to 184.70 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Marks & Spencer Group (LONDON:MKS), which fell 3.52% or 16.30 points to trade at 446.90 at the close. easyJet Plc (LONDON:EZJ) declined 1.70% or 28.00 points to end at 1616.00 and International Airlines Group (LONDON:ICAG) was down 1.56% or 7.50 points to 473.70.
Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the London Stock Exchange by 1539 to 525 and 375 ended unchanged.
Gold for February delivery was up 0.22% or 2.70 to $1213.40 a troy ounce.
Elsewhere in commodities trading, crude oil for delivery in February fell 0.25% or 0.12 to hit $48.53 a barrel, while the February brent oil contract fell 0.56% or 0.28 to trade at $50.87 a barrel.
GBP/USD was up 0.01% to 1.5114, while EUR/GBP fell 0.24% to 0.7815.
The US Dollar Index was up 0.18% at 92.38.