Investing.com – U.K. stocks were higher after the close on Friday, as gains in the Media, Healthcare Equipment & Services and Pharmaceuticals & Biotech sectors led shares higher.
At the close in London, the Investing.com United Kingdom 100 gained 0.27% to hit a new 1-month high.
The best performers of the session on the Investing.com United Kingdom 100 were SKY PLC (LON:SKYB), which rose 26.66% or 210.50 points to trade at 1000.00 at the close. Meanwhile, ITV PLC (LON:ITV) added 5.51% or 10.00 points to end at 191.50 and Mediclinic International PLC (LON:MDCM) was up 4.61% or 32.50 points to 737.00 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Provident Financial (LON:PFG), which fell 3.64% or 103.00 points to trade at 2726.00 at the close. Anglo American PLC (LON:AAL) declined 2.49% or 31.00 points to end at 1214.00 and Barclays PLC (LON:BARC) was down 2.47% or 5.90 points to 233.10.
Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the London Stock Exchange by 1143 to 742 and 439 ended unchanged.
Gold for February delivery was down 0.99% or 11.55 to $1160.85 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in January rose 1.32% or 0.67 to hit $51.51 a barrel, while the February Brent oil contract rose 0.52% or 0.28 to trade at $54.17 a barrel.
GBP/USD was down 0.01% to 1.2578, while EUR/GBP fell 0.78% to 0.8375.
The US Dollar Index was up 0.63% at 101.75.