U.K. equities closed higher on Friday, with the Investing.com United Kingdom 100 index gaining 0.25% as gains in electrical utilities, banking and industrial transportation sectors offset declines elsewhere. Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by 1,050 to 638 on the London Stock Exchange, with 563 stocks unchanged.
SSE PLC led advancers, rising 2.86% to 2,449.00, while HSBC Holdings PLC added 1.62% to close at 1,528.40. Severn Trent PLC climbed 1.48% to 3,146.00. Among laggards, B&M European Value Retail PLC fell 2.62% to 237.60, BAE Systems PLC declined 2.29% to 2,044.00 and Airtel Africa Plc dropped 2.12% to 332.80.
Commodities ended lower, with gold futures for December delivery down 2.20% at $4,561.56 per troy ounce. Crude oil futures for October delivery fell 0.47% to $83.14 per barrel, while the Brent contract for November delivery declined 0.54% to $88.04 per barrel.
The British pound was broadly steady against major peers. GBP/USD held at 1.35, up 0.29%, while EUR/GBP was little changed at 0.86. The U.S. Dollar Index futures rose 0.47% to 99.56.
