U.K. equities fell at the close of trade on Thursday, with the FTSE 100 declining 0.80% as losses in fixed-line telecommunications, beverages and tobacco sectors weighed on sentiment.
The Investing.com United Kingdom 100 index ended the session at 8,980.00, down from an earlier level, as decliners outnumbered advancers by 869 to 805. A total of 577 stocks finished unchanged, reflecting a broad-based pullback across the market.
Software provider Sage Group led the gains, rising 3.81% to 1,103.50, while exchange operator London Stock Exchange Group added 3.36% to close at 8,980.00. RELX, the data and analytics group, advanced 3.17% to 2,668.00.
Among the laggards, gambling group Entain fell 3.66% to 511.00, homebuilder Vistry Group dropped 3.44% to 303.00 and property firm Londonmetric Property declined 2.72% to 189.40.
Commodities showed mixed performance, with gold futures for December delivery up 0.16% at $4,660.80 per troy ounce. Crude oil benchmarks also edged higher, with WTI for October delivery rising 0.57% to $82.70 per barrel and Brent for November delivery up 0.67% to $87.52 per barrel.
The British pound held steady against the U.S. dollar, trading at 1.36, while the euro was little changed versus the pound at 0.86. The U.S. Dollar Index futures slipped 0.02% to 99.07.
