LONDON (ShareCast) - AstraZeneca topped the risers as it committed $40m to backing phase 2a trials for a new diabetes drug - a form of long-acting insulin that only needs to be administered once week.
Glaxosmithkline was boosted by news it plans to sell approximately half of its 12.4% stake in Aspen Pharmacare Holdings. The disposal will be through a placing of ordinary shares in Aspen to institutional investors.

RBS was also making gains after Investec raised its stance from 'sell' to 'hold' following an 11% drop in the shares since the bank's annual results two weeks ago.

Oil and gas producer Shell was in demand as crude prices recovered 1.1% to $58.18 a barrel.

However, resources giant BHP Billiton was lower after going ex-dividend, along with Direct Line, Hargreaves Lansdown, Hammerson and Standard Chartered.

Royal Mail was in the red as MPs warned regulator Ofcom that it may need to protect Royal Mail against new competitors "cherrypicking" the most lucrative parts of its business. Although the universal service obligation underpinning the country's postal system was not under immediate threat, things could change rapidly, warned the Commons business, innovation and skills committee on Thursday.



Risers
AstraZeneca (AZN) 4,490.00p +4.31%
CRH (CRH) 1,812.00p +4.02%
Shire Plc (SHP) 5,445.00p +2.54%
SABMiller (SAB) 3,660.50p +2.51%
Diageo (DGE) 1,894.00p +2.43%
Carnival (CCL) 3,099.00p +2.28%
GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) 1,553.50p +2.27%
Coca-Cola HBC AG (CDI) (CCH) 1,112.00p +2.11%
Prudential (PRU) 1,666.00p +1.96%
Persimmon (PSN) 1,748.00p +1.92%

Fallers
Standard Chartered (STAN) 981.40p -4.21%
Tullow Oil (TLW) 308.60p -3.14%
Royal Mail (RMG) 426.10p -2.63%
Direct Line Insurance Group (DLG) 322.20p -2.36%
BHP Billiton (BLT) 1,437.50p -2.34%
Hammerson (HMSO) 647.50p -1.15%
Dixons Carphone (DC.) 431.20p -1.03%
Land Securities Group (LAND) 1,202.00p -0.74%
Ashtead Group (AHT) 1,110.00p -0.54%
ARM Holdings (ARM) 1,168.00p -0.43%

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