Investing.com – U.K. stocks were higher after the close on Thursday, as gains in the Software & Computer Services, Pharmaceuticals & Biotech and Aerospace & Defense sectors led shares higher.
At the close in London, the Investing.com United Kingdom 100 gained 0.34% to hit a new 3-months high.
The best performers of the session on the Investing.com United Kingdom 100 were Micro Focus International PLC (LON:MCRO), which rose 12.26% or 186.00 points to trade at 1703.50 at the close. Meanwhile, AstraZeneca PLC (LON:AZN) added 7.48% or 428.00 points to end at 6149.00 and Mediclinic International PLC (LON:MDCM) was up 2.71% or 8.40 points to 318.60 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Coca Cola HBC AG (LON:CCH), which fell 8.57% or 231.0 points to trade at 2463.0 at the close. Capita PLC (LON:CPI) declined 2.79% or 3.30 points to end at 115.10 and Next PLC (LON:NXT) was down 2.68% or 133.00 points to 4826.00.
Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the London Stock Exchange by 1134 to 957 and 299 ended unchanged.
Gold Futures for April delivery was down 0.04% or 0.55 to $1314.55 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in March rose 0.61% or 0.33 to hit $54.23 a barrel, while the April Brent oil contract rose 1.24% or 0.79 to trade at $64.40 a barrel.
GBP/USD was down 0.33% to 1.2801, while EUR/GBP rose 0.60% to 0.8817.
The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.02% at 96.922.