U.K. equity markets ended Wednesday's session with a positive tone, the United Kingdom 100 index finishing up 0.79% at the close in London. Sector leadership came from Automobiles & Parts, Aerospace & Defense and Media, which collectively pushed a range of large-cap names higher.
Top movers
- WPP PLC (LON:WPP) led the winners on the index, climbing 5.24% - a rise of 12.70 points - to close at 255.10.
- Rolls-Royce Holdings PLC (LON:RR) added 4.61%, up 60.00 points to finish at 1,363.00.
- Informa PLC (LON:INF) gained 4.18%, or 32.60 points, to settle at 811.60 in late trade.
Largest decliners
- Vistry Group PLC (LON:VTYV) tumbled 25.63%, a drop of 161.90 points, to close at 469.70.
- Weir Group PLC (LON:WEIR) fell 10.64%, down 362.00 points to end the session at 3,040.00.
- Barratt Redrow PLC (LON:BTRW) slipped 3.06%, a decline of 10.40 points, to finish at 329.10.
Market breadth favored advancers, with 1,259 stocks rising against 538 decliners on the London Stock Exchange; 505 issues finished unchanged.
Certain price milestones were recorded in the session. Shares of Vistry Group fell to five-year lows, closing at 469.70 after the 25.63% decline. Rolls-Royce reached an all-time high, trading at 1,363.00 following the 4.61% gain. Barratt Redrow's shares moved down to three-year lows at 329.10 after the 3.06% fall.
Commodities and currencies
In commodities trading, April gold futures rose 0.66%, adding 34.00 to trade at 5,157.70 per troy ounce. Crude oil for April delivery slipped 0.12%, down 0.09 to $74.47 a barrel, while the May Brent contract declined 0.16%, or 0.13, to $81.27 a barrel.
On the foreign exchange front, GBP/USD was essentially flat - unchanged by 0.04% at 1.34 - and EUR/GBP was unchanged by 0.18% at 0.87. The US Dollar Index Futures lost 0.24%, trading at 98.77 by the close.
Overall, the session showed selective strength among media, aerospace and auto suppliers, counterbalanced by pronounced weakness in certain construction and engineering stocks.