The biggest risers on the FTSE 100 and 250 so far today are Plus500 (+5.36%), Hochschild Mining (+5.11%), Greggs (+4.62%), HICL Infrastructure (+4.06%) and Atalaya Mining (+3.24%), while Molten Ventures (-6.27%), PPHE Hotel Group (-4.15%), TRIG (-3.64%), Investec (-3.48%) and Baltic Classifieds (-3.38%) led the fallers. 

HICL climbed after it and TRIG formally abandoned their proposed £5.3 billion merger following a shareholder revolt, removing a deal that had faced heavy investor opposition and prompting a relief rally in HICL. 

TRIG (-3.64%) moved the other way for the same reason, with the market reacting negatively to the collapse of a consolidation plan that was expected to improve scale and liquidity for the company.

Plus500’s share price has risen because of its new role as a clearing partner for CME and FanDuel’s platform, along with its strategic share buyback programme.

Baltic Classifieds extended its recent weakness after JPMorgan downgraded the stock to “underweight” and cut its price target last week.

Hochschild Mining rose in line with a precious-metals miner rally driven by a stronger gold/silver backdrop and rate-cut expectations.

Atalaya Mining rose too, helped by stronger copper prices that have lifted copper-focused miners.

PPHE slipped despite its strategic review/formal sale process being under way. 

Other significant fallers include IP Group (-2.94%), Paypoint (-2.56%), WPP (-2.7%) and BT (-2.35%).