U.K. equity markets finished the session modestly in the green, driven by advances in Tobacco, Pharmaceuticals & Biotech and Beverage stocks.
The United Kingdom 100 index closed up 0.05%.
Top movers
The strongest performers on the index were Bunzl PLC (LON:BNZL), British American Tobacco PLC (LON:BATS) and Diageo PLC (LON:DGE). Bunzl led gains, rising 5.60% - an increase of 138.00 points - to settle at 2,602.00 at the close. Bunzl's shares reached a 52-week high during the session. British American Tobacco added 3.13% or 139.00 points to finish at 4,585.00, while Diageo was up 2.27% or 34.50 points to close at 1,551.50.
Lagging stocks
Miners weighed on the market. Antofagasta PLC (LON:ANTO) declined 5.46%, a loss of 216.00 points, ending at 3,740.00. Fresnillo PLC (LON:FRES) fell 5.15% or 155.00 points to 2,853.00, and Anglo American PLC (LON:AAL) dropped 4.99% or 195.00 points to close at 3,710.00.
Market breadth
On the London Stock Exchange, falling issues outnumbered advancing issues by 1,096 to 655, while 536 stocks finished unchanged.
Commodities and currencies
Gold futures for August delivery fell 1.19% - a move of 50.05 - to $4,152.65 a troy ounce. In the oil complex, August crude oil declined 0.96% or 0.71 to $73.15 a barrel, and the September Brent contract slipped 0.90% or 0.70 to trade at $76.82 a barrel.
On the foreign exchange front, GBP/USD moved lower by 0.49% to 1.32, while EUR/GBP was effectively unchanged, moving 0.09% to 0.86. The US Dollar Index Futures rose 0.36% to 101.16.
Context and close
The session closed with a narrow gain for the benchmark index, as gains in a handful of large-cap consumer and tobacco names offset broader weakness among mining companies. Bunzl's strong performance included a fresh 52-week high, while several resource stocks recorded double-digit point falls in percentage terms. Overall, the day's action left the index marginally higher at the close.