U.K. stocks were higher after the close on Thursday, as gains in the Tobacco, Industrial Metals&Mining and Healthcare Equipment&Services sectors led shares higher.
At the close in London, the United Kingdom 100 gained 0.11%.
The best performers of the session on the United Kingdom 100 were British American Tobacco PLC (LON:BATS), which rose 5.13% or 204.00 points to trade at 4177.00 at the close. Meanwhile, AstraZeneca PLC (LON:AZN) added 4.19% or 233.00 points to end at 5796.00 and Old Mutual Ltd (LON:OMU) was up 3.12% or 5.10 points to 168.34 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Intu Properties PLC (LON:INTUP), which fell 8.31% or 14.95 points to trade at 165.00 at the close. SSE PLC (LON:SSE) declined 5.87% or 78.50 points to end at 1260.00 and Hammerson PLC (LON:HMSO) was down 5.33% or 28.20 points to 500.80.
Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the London Stock Exchange by 1097 to 872 and 324 ended unchanged.
Shares in Intu Properties PLC (LON:INTUP) fell to 5-year lows; down 8.31% or 14.95 to 165.00. Shares in AstraZeneca PLC (LON:AZN) rose to all time highs; gaining 4.19% or 233.00 to 5796.00.
Gold Futures for August delivery was down 0.50% or 6.10 to $1225.70 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in September rose 0.53% or 0.37 to hit $69.67 a barrel, while the September Brent oil contract rose 0.77% or 0.57 to trade at $74.50 a barrel.
GBP/USD was down 0.52% to 1.3121, while EUR/GBP fell 0.07% to 0.8886.
The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.50% at 94.45.
