Precious metals counterparts Fresnillo and Randgold were leading the risers early on, followed closely behind by Antofagasta, Vedanta and Rio Tinto.

RBS was making gains after comments from Business Secretary Vince Cable who said that the sell-off of the government’s 81% stake was unlikely for another five years. Part-nationalised peer Lloyds was also higher.

Tesco and Next were out of favour this morning after the Labour Party raised concerns over how the companies utilise cheap labour from migrant workers.

Outsourcing giant Capita was in the red after Citigroup downgraded its rating on the stock from ‘buy’ to ‘neutral’, saying it no longer sees significant re-rating potential after a strong performance since the start of the year.

Sector peer MITIE Group also fell despite saying it is well placed to achieve “good levels” of organic growth this financial year. In a trading update for the period from April 1st to date, the firm reported a positive start to the year, driven by strong performance in the facilities management division.

SVG Capital, the private equity investor, was a high riser on the FTSE 250 after seeing net asset value jump by 23% in its first half, substantially outperforming its benchmarks, as profits more than doubled.

High Street bookie Ladbrokes was being weighed down by a ratings cut from JPMorgan Cazenove to ‘underweight’.

Source: ShareCast