U.K. stocks higher at close of trade; Investing.com United Kingdom 100 up 0.07%

Investing.com – U.K. stocks were higher after the close on Thursday, as gains in the Beverage , Electrical and Healthcare Equipment & Services sectors led shares higher.

At the close in London, the Investing.com United Kingdom 100 rose 0.07%.

The best performers of the session on the Investing.com United Kingdom 100 were Diageo PLC (LON:DGE ), which rose 2.77% or 69.00 points to trade at 2,558.50 at the close. Meanwhile, Severn Trent PLC (LON:SVT ) added 1.81% or 46.00 points to end at 2,595.00 and Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust PLC (LON:SMT ) was up 1.73% or 16.60 points to 975.20 in late trade.

The worst performers of the session were Rentokil Initial PLC (LON:RTO ), which fell 3.97% or 16.50 points to trade at 398.90 at the close. Antofagasta PLC (LON:ANTO ) declined 3.43% or 60.50 points to end at 1,702.50 and Associated British Foods PLC (LON:ABF ) was down 3.01% or 66.00 points to 2,126.00.

Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the London Stock Exchange by 885 to 878 and 660 ended unchanged.

Shares in Associated British Foods PLC (LON:ABF ) fell to 52-week lows; down 3.01% or 66.00 to 2,126.00.

Gold Futures for February delivery was down 1.72% or 47.49 to $2,709.21 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in January fell 0.07% or 0.05 to hit $70.24 a barrel, while the February Brent oil contract fell 0.05% or 0.04 to trade at $73.48 a barrel.

GBP/USD was unchanged 0.26% to 1.27, while EUR/GBP unchanged 0.44% to 0.83.

The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.13% at 106.25.

Source: Investing.com