Investing.com – U.K. stocks were higher after the close on Friday, as gains in the Pharmaceuticals & Biotech, Forestry & Paper and Construction & Materials sectors led shares higher.
At the close in London, the Investing.com United Kingdom 100 rose 0.67% to hit a new all time high.
The best performers of the session on the Investing.com United Kingdom 100 were Barratt Developments PLC (LON:BDEV), which rose 3.51% or 17.500 points to trade at 515.500 at the close. Meanwhile, Travis Perkins PLC (LON:TPK) added 3.09% or 44.00 points to end at 1466.00 and ITV PLC (LON:ITV) was up 2.81% or 5.70 points to 208.70 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Rolls-Royce Holdings PLC (LON:RR), which fell 2.44% or 16.50 points to trade at 659.50 at the close. Marks and Spencer Group PLC (LON:MKS) declined 1.89% or 6.50 points to end at 338.50 and BAE Systems PLC (LON:BAES) was down 1.30% or 8.000 points to 609.000.
Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the London Stock Exchange by 1205 to 669 and 447 ended unchanged.
Gold for February delivery was down 0.36% or 4.35 to $1195.45 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in February fell 0.79% or 0.42 to hit $52.59 a barrel, while the March Brent oil contract fell 0.55% or 0.31 to trade at $55.70 a barrel.
GBP/USD was up 0.32% to 1.2198, while EUR/GBP fell 0.13% to 0.8715.
The US Dollar Index was down 0.16% at 101.30.