Investing.com – U.K. stocks were lower after the close on Friday, as losses in the Tobacco, Industrial Engineering and Chemicals sectors led shares lower.
At the close in London, the Investing.com United Kingdom 100 declined 1.03%.
The best performers of the session on the Investing.com United Kingdom 100 were AstraZeneca PLC (LON:AZN), which rose 3.62% or 156.50 points to trade at 4481.50 at the close. Meanwhile, Pearson PLC (LON:PSON) added 1.60% or 10.50 points to end at 667.00 and Diageo PLC (LON:DGE) was up 1.39% or 33.50 points to 2442.00 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were British American Tobacco PLC (LON:BATS), which fell 6.80% or 362.00 points to trade at 4960.00 at the close. Imperial Brands PLC (LON:IMB) declined 3.79% or 130.50 points to end at 3315.50 and Johnson Matthey PLC (LON:JMAT) was down 3.65% or 106.00 points to 2797.00.
Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the London Stock Exchange by 1252 to 598 and 470 ended unchanged.
Shares in Imperial Brands PLC (LON:IMB) fell to 52-week lows; losing 3.79% or 130.50 to 3315.50. Shares in Diageo PLC (LON:DGE) rose to all time highs; up 1.39% or 33.50 to 2442.00.
Gold Futures for August delivery was up 0.72% or 9.03 to $1269.03 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in September rose 1.35% or 0.66 to hit $49.70 a barrel, while the September Brent oil contract rose 1.86% or 0.96 to trade at $52.45 a barrel.
GBP/USD was up 0.47% to 1.3127, while EUR/GBP rose 0.12% to 0.8949.
The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.57% at 93.24.