The FTSE 100 has started higher, following a rebound on Wall Street overnight, which was led by battered down tech stocks.
About half an hour into trade, London's blue-chip index was up about two-fifths of a percent at 8,740, with Prudential leading the charge on the back of its results. Highlights included a 13% dividend hike, in addition to a $2 billion ongoing share buyback that is only halfway complete.
Real estate developer Shaftesbury Capital and housebuilder Crest Nicholson are topping the mid-caps.
Shaftesbury has announced a strategic partnership with the Norwegian sovereign wealth fund, Norges Bank, in respect of its Covent Garden estate.
In other news, BT Group's Openreach arm faces stricter oversight on pricing, under new proposals from the sector watchdog today, but it said the company should also "not have to incur unnecessary costs" for running the old copper network and full-fibre networks at the same time.
And energy regulator Ofgem has approved a smaller-than-expected £4 billion of investment for the country's three transmission owners owned by National Grid, SSE and Scottish Power to build out the electricity grid.
