U.K. equities ended the trading day slightly in negative territory on Friday, driven by losses in three specific sectors - Fixed Line Telecommunications, Aerospace & Defense and Oil & Gas Producers - which pressured the broader market.
At the close in London, the Investing.com United Kingdom 100 was down 0.06%.
Top performers
- ConvaTec Group PLC (LON:CTEC) led the gainers, rising 4.46% - an increase of 10.00 points - to finish at 234.00.
- Antofagasta PLC (LON:ANTO) added 3.17%, or 116.42 points, closing at 3,793.42.
- Home improvement retailer Kingfisher PLC (LON:KGF) rose 2.70%, gaining 8.10 points to end the session at 308.20.
Lagging names
- B&M European Value Retail PLC (LON:BMEB) was the weakest performer, declining 4.64% - a drop of 8.50 points - to close at 174.50.
- BAE Systems PLC (LON:BAES) fell 3.31%, or 75.00 points, to finish at 2,194.00.
- Sage Group PLC (LON:SGE) decreased 2.18%, slipping 18.20 points to 817.60 at the close.
Market breadth favored advancers: rising stocks outnumbered decliners on the London Stock Exchange by 1,206 to 530, while 549 issues finished unchanged.
Commodities and currencies
In commodities trading, Gold Futures for June delivery fell 0.72%, a decrease of 34.70, settling at $4,783.30 a troy ounce. Crude oil for delivery in May rose 1.31%, up $1.28 to $99.15 a barrel, and the June Brent oil contract increased 1.33%, or $1.28, to trade at $97.20 a barrel.
On the currency front, GBP/USD was essentially unchanged, moving 0.13% to 1.35, while EUR/GBP was unchanged by 0.06% at 0.87. The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.09% at 98.50.
Overall, the session closed with the benchmark marginally lower as gains among several names were offset by declines in sectors that had the largest negative influence on the market.