Investing.com – U.K. equities were lower at the close on Wednesday, as losses in the Fixed Line Telecommunications, Healthcare Equipment & Services and Life Insurance/Assurance sectors propelled shares lower.
At the close in London, the Investing.com United Kingdom 100 lost 0.02%.
The biggest gainers of the session on the Investing.com United Kingdom 100 were St. James's Place PLC (LON:SJP), which rose 4.52% or 18.90 points to trade at 437.20 at the close. Melrose Industries PLC (LON:MRON) added 4.06% or 25.20 points to end at 646.00 and Halma PLC (LON:HLMA) was up 3.85% or 85.00 points to 2,293.00 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Prudential PLC (LON:PRU), which lost 4.54% or 35.40 points to trade at 745.20 in late trade. Burberry Group PLC (LON:BRBY) declined 3.29% or 40.50 points to end at 1,189.50 and Smith & Nephew PLC (LON:SN) shed 2.36% or 25.00 points to 1,033.00.
Advancing stocks outnumbered falling ones by 908 to 839 and 699 ended unchanged on the London Stock Exchange.
In commodities trading, Gold Futures for April delivery was up 0.02% or 0.50 to $2,160.20 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in May fell 2.20% or 1.82 to hit $80.91 a barrel, while the May Brent oil contract fell 1.99% or 1.74 to trade at $85.64 a barrel.
GBP/USD was unchanged 0.04% to 1.27, while EUR/GBP unchanged 0.00% to 0.85.
The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.12% at 103.61.