Investing.com – U.K. stocks were higher after the close on Wednesday, as gains in the Life Insurance/Assurance, Automobiles & Parts and Aerospace & Defense sectors led shares higher.
At the close in London, the Investing.com United Kingdom 100 added 0.23% to hit a new 52-week high.
The best performers of the session on the Investing.com United Kingdom 100 were G4S PLC (LON:GFS), which rose 16.16% or 31.60 points to trade at 227.20 at the close. Meanwhile, Rolls-Royce Holdings PLC (LON:RR) added 4.39% or 33.50 points to end at 797.00 and Legal & General Group PLC (LON:LGEN) was up 3.30% or 6.800 points to 212.800 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Hikma Pharmaceuticals PLC (LON:HIK), which fell 1.39% or 32.00 points to trade at 2268.00 at the close. SKY PLC (LON:SKYB) declined 1.23% or 11.00 points to end at 887.00 and International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (LON:ICAG) was down 1.15% or 4.70 points to 402.50.
Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the London Stock Exchange by 1103 to 1041 and 442 ended unchanged.
Gold for December delivery was up 0.43% or 5.75 to $1352.45 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in September fell 1.71% or 0.73 to hit $42.04 a barrel, while the October Brent oil contract fell 1.49% or 0.67 to trade at $44.31 a barrel.
GBP/USD was up 0.03% to 1.3006, while EUR/GBP rose 0.48% to 0.8592.
The US Dollar Index was down 0.47% at 95.61.