Precious metals miner Fresnillo (FRES.L) finished the day as the strongest riser at the trading's close as gold prices remained elevated.

The miner added 6.4 per cent to its share price, to close at 1,966p, as the FTSE 100 index closed slightly down.

Peer sector companies Eurasian Natural Resources (ENRC.L) and Antofagasta (ANTO.L) both saw share prices rise also.

Kazakh group Eurasian Natural Resouces rose 3.7 per cent to 655p, while Antofagasta added 2.8 per cent to its share price of 1,262p.

Engineer GKN (GKN.L) finished higher, with share price closing 2.1 per cent up at 202.5p, and Unilever (ULVR.L) climbed 1.8 per cent to 2,072p.

Financials were hit at the close, with Standard Life (SL.L) dropping the most, dropping 5.1 per cent lower at 201.5p.

Barclays (BARC.L) closed 4.2 per cent down to 173.95p, was banking rival Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS.L) fell 3.8 per cent to 24.75p.

Engineering group IMI (IMI.L) and oil & gas engineering company Petrofac (PFC.L) both dropped 3.8 per cent also, closing at 832.5p and 1,170p, respectively.

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