Investing.com – U.K. stocks were higher after the close on Wednesday, as gains in the Oil Equipment Services & Distribution, Oil & Gas Producers and Aerospace & Defense sectors led shares higher.
At the close in London, the Investing.com United Kingdom 100 added 1.16%.
The best performers of the session on the Investing.com United Kingdom 100 were Micro Focus International PLC (LON:MCRO), which rose 4.67% or 59.00 points to trade at 1323.00 at the close. Meanwhile, Hikma Pharmaceuticals PLC (LON:HIK) added 3.70% or 54.00 points to end at 1512.50 and Whitbread PLC (LON:WTB) was up 3.44% or 134.00 points to 4027.00 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Dixons Carphone PLC (LON:DC), which fell 2.17% or 4.20 points to trade at 189.60 at the close. Bunzl PLC (LON:BNZL) declined 1.31% or 30.00 points to end at 2262.00 and Intu Properties PLC (LON:INTUP) was down 1.15% or 2.10 points to 180.75.
Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the London Stock Exchange by 1073 to 886 and 356 ended unchanged.
Shares in Intu Properties PLC (LON:INTUP) fell to 5-year lows; down 1.15% or 2.10 to 180.75.
Gold Futures for August delivery was down 0.29% or 3.70 to $1256.20 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in August rose 3.22% or 2.27 to hit $72.80 a barrel, while the September Brent oil contract rose 2.25% or 1.71 to trade at $77.85 a barrel.
GBP/USD was down 0.62% to 1.3142, while EUR/GBP rose 0.09% to 0.8815.
The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.48% at 94.81.