Investing.com – U.K. stocks were higher after the close on Thursday, as gains in the Industrial Metals & Mining, Oil Equipment Services & Distribution and Automobiles & Parts sectors led shares higher.
At the close in London, the FTSE 100 rose 0.25% to hit a new all time high.
The best performers of the session on the FTSE 100 were Fresnillo Plc (LONDON:FRES), which rose 5.43% or 35.00 points to trade at 679.00 at the close. Meanwhile, Randgold Resources (LONDON:RRS) added 3.23% or 151.00 points to end at 4826.00 and Marks & Spencer Group (LONDON:MKS) was up 3.10% or 16.00 points to 531.50 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Next Plc (LONDON:NXT), which fell 4.00% or 305.00 points to trade at 7315.00 at the close. British American Tobacco (LONDON:BATS) declined 3.37% or 128.00 points to end at 3668.00 and TUI AG (LONDON:TUIT) was down 2.23% or 27.00 points to 1181.00.
Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the London Stock Exchange by 1255 to 832 and 401 ended unchanged.
Shares in Marks & Spencer Group (LONDON:MKS) rose to all time highs; rising 3.10% or 16.00 to 531.50.
Gold for April delivery was up 1.41% or 16.20 to $1167.50 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude Oil for delivery in May fell 3.24% or 1.51 to hit $45.14 a barrel, while the May Brent Oil contract fell 3.25% or 1.81 to trade at $54.09 a barrel.
GBP/USD was down 1.59% to 1.4743, while EUR/GBP fell 0.46% to 0.7220.
The US Dollar Index was up 2.20% at 99.52.