Investing.com – U.K. stocks were higher after the close on Wednesday, as gains in the Industrial Transportation , Banking and Electronic & Electrical Equipment sectors led shares higher.

At the close in London, the Investing.com United Kingdom 100 added 0.04%.

The best performers of the session on the Investing.com United Kingdom 100 were Melrose Industries PLC (LON: MRON ), which rose 2.90% or 15.60 points to trade at 553.60 at the close. Meanwhile, International Consolidated Airlines Group S.A. (LON: ICAG ) added 1.85% or 5.50 points to end at 302.80 and Airtel Africa Plc (LON: AAF ) was up 1.71% or 1.80 points to 107.30 in late trade.

The worst performers of the session were Entain PLC (LON: ENT ), which fell 2.66% or 20.00 points to trade at 732.00 at the close. Beazley PLC (LON: BEZG ) declined 1.56% or 13.00 points to end at 818.50 and AstraZeneca PLC (LON: AZN ) was down 1.47% or 154.00 points to 10,352.00.

Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the London Stock Exchange by 911 to 873 and 636 ended unchanged.

Shares in International Consolidated Airlines Group S.A. (LON: ICAG ) rose to 3-years highs; up 1.85% or 5.50 to 302.80.

Gold Futures for February delivery was down 0.34% or 9.16 to $2,652.84 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in January rose 0.64% or 0.45 to hit $70.53 a barrel, while the February Brent oil contract rose 1.07% or 0.78 to trade at $73.97 a barrel.

GBP/USD was unchanged 0.09% to 1.27, while EUR/GBP unchanged 0.06% to 0.82.

The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.18% at 106.85.