London’s FTSE 100 was up 0.4% at 7,147.35 in afternoon trade on Tuesday.
Packaging company DS Smith was the top gainer as it posted a jump in full-year profit and revenue thanks to strong demand and higher prices.
Miners Antofagasta, Rio Tinto and Glencore were also up following heavy losses in the previous session.
Pearson was on the front foot after Deutsche Bank upgraded shares of the educational publisher to ‘buy’ from ‘hold’ and hiked the price target to 900p from 625p as it said it was “turning over a new leaf”.
“After a period of decline driven by structural issues in the US courseware market, we think Pearson is now back on the path to sustainable growth as it recaptures the second-hand textbook market and innovates its offering,” DB said.
“The journey has been -painful with several years of restructuring, but with the strategy tangibly progressing we turn more constructive.”
On the downside, Ocado slumped after the online supermarket raised £575m in a discounted share placing to help fund its expansion.
Primark owner AB Foods was knocked lower by a downgrade to ‘neutral’ from ‘overweight’ at JPMorgan.
FTSE 100 – Risers
Smith (DS) (SMDS) 291.80p 3.37%
Melrose Industries (MRO) 157.10p 3.12%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 1,331.00p 3.10%
Avast (AVST) 506.20p 2.93%
Rio Tinto (RIO) 5,267.00p 2.77%
Harbour Energy (HBR) 364.10p 2.19%
Glencore (GLEN) 482.60p 2.08%
Standard Chartered (STAN) 615.40p 1.89%
Pearson (PSON) 786.40p 1.87%
Mondi (MNDI) 1,487.50p 1.85%
FTSE 100 – Fallers
Ocado Group (OCDO) 844.40p -3.78%
Admiral Group (ADM) 2,107.00p -2.32%
Associated British Foods (ABF) 1,612.50p -2.09%
Centrica (CNA) 79.20p -1.79%
National Grid (NG.) 1,021.00p -1.64%
Unite Group (UTG) 1,072.00p -1.20%
Whitbread (WTB) 2,627.00p -1.17%
International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 119.18p -1.16%
Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) 206.00p -1.15%
Tesco (TSCO) 249.10p -1.11%
