Investing.com – U.K. stocks were higher after the close on Wednesday, as gains in the Forestry & Paper, General Industrial and Software & Computer Services sectors led shares higher.
At the close in London, the Investing.com United Kingdom 100 gained 0.04%.
The best performers of the session on the Investing.com United Kingdom 100 were Royal Mail PLC (LON:RMG), which rose 5.01% or 10.60 points to trade at 222.00 at the close. Meanwhile, Hikma Pharmaceuticals PLC (LON:HIK) added 3.10% or 52.50 points to end at 1743.50 and Coca Cola HBC AG (LON:CCH) was up 3.07% or 85.0 points to 2854.0 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Marks and Spencer Group PLC (LON:MKS), which fell 9.37% or 25.40 points to trade at 245.80 at the close. Babcock International Group PLC (LON:BAB) declined 9.31% or 47.20 points to end at 460.00 and EasyJet PLC (LON:EZJ) was down 5.83% or 57.40 points to 927.20.
Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the London Stock Exchange by 1163 to 1015 and 195 ended unchanged.
Shares in Babcock International Group PLC (LON:BAB) fell to 5-year lows; falling 9.31% or 47.20 to 460.00. Shares in EasyJet PLC (LON:EZJ) fell to 52-week lows; losing 5.83% or 57.40 to 927.20.
Gold Futures for June delivery was up 0.09% or 1.15 to $1274.35 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in July fell 3.18% or 2.01 to hit $61.12 a barrel, while the July Brent oil contract fell 2.20% or 1.59 to trade at $70.59 a barrel.
GBP/USD was down 0.22% to 1.2677, while EUR/GBP rose 0.24% to 0.8801.
The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.01% at 97.903.