Investing.com – U.K. equities were higher at the close on Friday, as gains in the Healthcare Equipment & Services, Oil & Gas Producers and Pharmaceuticals & Biotech sectors propelled shares higher.
At the close in London, the Investing.com United Kingdom 100 added 1.07% to hit a new all time high.
The biggest gainers of the session on the Investing.com United Kingdom 100 were B&M European Value Retail SA (LON:BMEB), which rose 3.44% or 16.40 points to trade at 493.50 at the close. Smith & Nephew PLC (LON:SN) added 3.35% or 38.50 points to end at 1,188.00 and Shell PLC (LON:SHEL) was up 3.27% or 76.50 points to 2,414.00 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Vodafone Group PLC (LON:VOD), which lost 3.90% or 3.70 points to trade at 91.14 in late trade. Segro Plc (LON:SGRO) declined 3.83% or 35.20 points to end at 885.00 and Centrica PLC (LON:CNA) shed 2.97% or 2.92 points to 95.26.
Advancing stocks outnumbered falling ones by 916 to 909 and 472 ended unchanged on the London Stock Exchange.
In commodities trading, Gold Futures for April delivery was down 2.91% or 56.15 to $1,874.65 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in March fell 2.93% or 2.22 to hit $73.66 a barrel, while the April Brent oil contract fell 2.64% or 2.17 to trade at $80.00 a barrel.
GBP/USD was down 1.30% to 1.21, while EUR/GBP unchanged 0.44% to 0.90.
The US Dollar Index Futures was up 1.11% at 102.71.