Investing.com – U.K. stocks were lower after the close on Wednesday, as losses in the Industrial Engineering, Automobiles & Parts and Mobile Telecommunications sectors led shares lower.
At the close in London, the FTSE 100 fell 0.21%.
The best performers of the session on the FTSE 100 were Petrofac (LONDON:PFC), which rose 8.71% or 71.00 points to trade at 886.00 at the close. Meanwhile, St James'S Place (LONDON:SJP) added 4.26% or 38.00 points to end at 930.00 and SKY PLC (LONDON:SKYB) was up 3.18% or 31.00 points to 1005.00 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Weir Group (LONDON:WEIR), which fell 8.75% or 163.00 points to trade at 1700.00 at the close. IMI (LONDON:IMI) declined 3.41% or 49.00 points to end at 1387.00 and Standard Chartered (LONDON:STAN) was down 2.56% or 24.30 points to 926.30.
Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the London Stock Exchange by 1097 to 1015 and 345 ended unchanged.
Shares in St James'S Place (LONDON:SJP) rose to all time highs; gaining 4.26% or 38.00 to 930.00. Shares in SKY PLC (LONDON:SKYB) rose to all time highs; rising 3.18% or 31.00 to 1005.00.
Gold for April delivery was up 0.50% or 6.00 to $1203.30 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude Oil for delivery in April rose 1.34% or 0.66 to hit $49.94 a barrel, while the April Brent Oil contract rose 2.21% or 1.29 to trade at $59.95 a barrel.
GBP/USD was up 0.30% to 1.5500, while EUR/GBP fell 0.14% to 0.7328.
The US Dollar Index was down 0.24% at 94.30.