U.K. equities finished the trading day in negative territory on Thursday as sector-level weakness pushed the benchmark lower. At the close in London the Investing.com United Kingdom 100 declined 0.36%.
Sector losses in Industrial Metals & Mining, Fixed Line Telecommunications and Electrical were cited as the primary drags on the market during the session. On the index, gains and losses were not uniform: more stocks fell than rose on the London Stock Exchange.
Top and bottom movers
The leading performers on the Investing.com United Kingdom 100 were British American Tobacco PLC (LON:BATS), which climbed 2.97% or 129.00 points to finish at 4,473.00; Relx PLC (LON:REL), up 2.64% or 59.00 points to end at 2,293.00; and BAE Systems PLC (LON:BAES), which rose 2.51% or 53.00 points to close at 2,163.00.
At the other end of the leaderboard, Centrica PLC (LON:CNA) lost 5.15% or 10.10 points to trade at 185.90 at the close. Flutter Entertainment PLC (LON:FLTRF) declined 3.99% or 376.00 points to finish at 9,040.00, and Barclays PLC (LON:BARC) fell 3.72% or 18.10 points to 467.95.
Overall, falling shares outnumbered advancing ones on the exchange by 968 to 795, while 541 issues finished unchanged.
Notable price milestones
Shares in Flutter Entertainment PLC (LON:FLTRF) fell to three-year lows, sliding 3.99% or 376.00 to 9,040.00. In contrast, BAE Systems PLC (LON:BAES) rose to an all-time high, gaining 2.51% or 53.00 to 2,163.00.
Commodities and currencies
In commodities trading, Gold Futures for April delivery were up 0.14% or 6.86 to $5,016.36 a troy ounce. Crude oil for April delivery increased 2.43% or 1.58 to $66.63 a barrel, while the April Brent oil contract rose 2.17% or 1.53 to trade at $71.88 a barrel.
In foreign-exchange moves, GBP/USD was down 0.41% to 1.34, while EUR/GBP was unchanged 0.15% to 0.87. The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.24% at 97.86.
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