FTSE Up Firmly In Positive Territory; Compass Group Rises On Rating Upgrade

(RTTNews) - The U.K. market is up firmly in positive territory around noon on Thursday with stocks from mining and energy sectors finding good support.

Investors, reacting to some corporate news, are also looking ahead to the European Central Bank's policy announcement, and the U.S. inflation data due later in the day.

The benchmark FTSE 100 was up 51.71 points or 0.56% at 9,277.10 a little before noon.

BAE Systems is up 4.2%. Compass Group is gaining nearly 3% following a rating upgrade by Deutsche Bank. Airtel Africa, Fresnillo, Associated British Foods, Diploma, Babcock International, Imperial Brands, Pearson, ICG and BP are up 1 to 2%.

Playtech is up nearly 5% after the gambling technology company announced strong first-half results and said it is positioned to exceed full-year expectations.

Online ticketing platform Trainline is soaring nearly 10% following a robust first-half trading statement.

Gas producer Energean gave up some gains after a sharp upmove, and is up 0.7%. The stock is up despite the company cutting its annual production forecast for the second time in nearly four months.

M&G is declining by about 3.2%. Kingfisher is down 1.7%, while Experian and Segro are lower by about 1.1% and 1%, respectively.

Ashtead Group, Whitbread, Auto Trader Group, Glencore, Rightmove and Standard Chartered are down 0.5 to 0.9%.