U.K. stocks higher at close of trade; Investing.com United Kingdom 100 up 0.18%

Investing.com – U.K. stocks were higher after the close on Wednesday, as gains in the Pharmaceuticals & Biotech, Food & Drug Retailers and Chemicals sectors led shares higher.

At the close in London, the Investing.com United Kingdom 100 gained 0.18% to hit a new all time high.

The best performers of the session on the Investing.com United Kingdom 100 were AstraZeneca PLC (LON:AZN), which rose 3.23% or 358.00 points to trade at 11,444.00 at the close. Meanwhile, Spirax-Sarco Engineering PLC (LON:SPX) added 3.00% or 205.00 points to end at 7,050.00 and GSK plc (LON:GSK) was up 2.17% or 30.50 points to 1,435.00 in late trade.

The worst performers of the session were Beazley PLC (LON:BEZG), which fell 12.28% or 112.00 points to trade at 800.00 at the close. Entain PLC (LON:ENT) declined 2.51% or 23.00 points to end at 895.00 and London Stock Exchange Group PLC (LON:LSEG) was down 2.50% or 234.00 points to 9,146.00.

Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the London Stock Exchange by 945 to 748 and 612 ended unchanged.

Shares in London Stock Exchange Group PLC (LON:LSEG) fell to 52-week lows; losing 2.50% or 234.00 to 9,146.00.

Gold Futures for December delivery was up 0.31% or 10.45 to $3,409.45 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in September fell 1.68% or 1.06 to hit $62.11 a barrel, while the October Brent oil contract fell 1.48% or 0.98 to trade at $65.14 a barrel.

GBP/USD was up 0.52% to 1.36, while EUR/GBP unchanged 0.17% to 0.86.

The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.37% at 97.56.