London's primary benchmark closed the week with gains as investors pushed the Investing.com United Kingdom 100 up 0.58% to a new all-time high. Sector leadership came from beverage, pharmaceuticals & biotech and mining names, which helped lift the index at the close.
Among individual winners, Diageo PLC (LON:DGE) led the session's advances, finishing up 4.82% or 76.50 points to close at 1,662.50. Property portal Rightmove PLC (LON:RMV) was also a strong performer, adding 4.34% or 18.60 points to end at 447.40, while telecoms group BT Group PLC (LON:BT) rose 4.28% or 8.90 points to finish the day at 216.80.
Not all large-cap names participated in the rally. Flutter Entertainment PLC (LON:FLTRF) registered the session's largest decline, falling 14.99% or 1,360.00 points to close at 7,712.00. That move brought the stock to three-year lows. Melrose Industries PLC (LON:MRON) slipped 11.59% or 74.20 points to end at 565.80, and International Consolidated Airlines Group S.A. (LON:ICAG) declined 7.35% or 33.60 points to close at 423.70.
Market internals showed positive breadth on the London Stock Exchange at the close, with 995 stocks rising versus 775 that fell, and 539 unchanged.
Commodities trading featured notable moves alongside equities. Gold futures for April delivery rose 1.07% or 55.80 to $5,250.00 a troy ounce. In energy markets, US crude for April delivery gained 2.35% or 1.53 to reach $66.74 a barrel, while the May Brent contract increased 2.34% or 1.66 to trade at $72.50 a barrel.
Foreign exchange markets were relatively steady. GBP/USD was essentially unchanged, moving 0.23% to 1.35, and EUR/GBP was unchanged at 0.46% to 0.88. The US Dollar Index Futures eased 0.19% to 97.55.
Information on individual stock movements and index performance paints a mixed picture: broad index strength accompanied by material volatility in several large-cap names. The session included both sector-level leadership and concentrated weakness among a few high-profile issuers.
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