LONDON: U.K. stocks were lower after the close on Friday, as losses in the Pharmaceuticals & Biotech, Beverage and Healthcare Equipment & Services sectors led shares lower. At the close in London, the Investing.com United Kingdom 100 lost 0.21%. The best performers of the session on the Investing.com United Kingdom 100 were ITV PLC (LON:ITV), which rose 3.33% or 5.90 points to trade at 182.80 at the close. Meanwhile, Fresnillo PLC (LON:FRES) added 2.88% or 45.00 points to end at 1605.00 and Ashtead Group PLC (LON:AHT) was up 2.47% or 39.00 points to 1620.00 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Shire PLC (LON:SHP), which fell 2.32% or 107.50 points to trade at 4518.50 at the close. Mediclinic International PLC (LON:MDCM) declined 2.26% or 17.50 points to end at 757.00 and BAE Systems PLC (LON:BAES) was down 2.18% or 14.50 points to 650.00. Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the London Stock Exchange by 930 to 880 and 493 ended unchanged. Gold Futures for August delivery was up 0.62% or 7.76 to $1257.16 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in August rose 0.73% or 0.31 to hit $43.05 a barrel, while the August Brent oil contract rose 0.77% or 0.35 to trade at $45.57 a barrel. GBP/USD was up 0.37% to 1.2729, while EUR/GBP rose 0.03% to 0.8796. The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.32% at 96.95.
