Investing.com – U.K. stocks were higher after the close on Wednesday, as gains in the Healthcare Equipment & Services , Insurance and Life Insurance/Assurance sectors led shares higher.

At the close in London, the Investing.com United Kingdom 100 rose 0.75%.

The best performers of the session on the Investing.com United Kingdom 100 were Hiscox Ltd (LON: HSX ), which rose 4.97% or 53.00 points to trade at 1,119.00 at the close. Meanwhile, ConvaTec Group PLC (LON: CTEC ) added 4.86% or 12.00 points to end at 259.00 and Lloyds Banking Group PLC (LON: LLOY ) was up 4.58% or 3.14 points to 71.76 in late trade.

The worst performers of the session were Hikma Pharmaceuticals PLC (LON: HIK ), which fell 6.19% or 142.00 points to trade at 2,154.00 at the close. Relx PLC (LON: REL ) declined 2.56% or 100.00 points to end at 3,805.00 and Persimmon PLC (LON: PSN ) was down 2.53% or 30.50 points to 1,175.00.

Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the London Stock Exchange by 1139 to 647 and 599 ended unchanged.

Shares in Lloyds Banking Group PLC (LON: LLOY ) rose to 5-year highs; rising 4.58% or 3.14 to 71.76.

Gold Futures for April delivery was up 0.32% or 9.44 to $2,928.24 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in April fell 0.19% or 0.13 to hit $68.80 a barrel, while the May Brent oil contract fell 0.34% or 0.25 to trade at $72.25 a barrel.

GBP/USD was unchanged 0.28% to 1.27, while EUR/GBP unchanged 0.24% to 0.83.

The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.03% at 106.19.