The FTSE Small Caps index is up 0.2 percent by midday, outperforminga flat FTSE 100 index and a 0.1 percent fall by the FTSE 250 mid-capindex.
Borders & Southern Petroleum jumps 14.6 percent after the energygroup says the development of its gas condensate discovery at the Darwin projectin the Falkland Islands is commercially viable.
"Broadly, the developments confirm our expectation that the Darwin discoverywill be a commercial development," Merchant Securities says in a research note.
The broker keeps a "buy" rating on Borders & Southern Petroleum and says itexpects to increase its price target for the stock.
W Resources leaps 20.8 percent after the gold exploration anddevelopment group announces good progress from drilling at its La Parrilla sitein southwest Spain.
Marketing company Cello Group rises 7.8 percent after it announcesthe acquisition of consultancy firm Mash Health for an initial amount of 0.6million pounds, and Cello also says its trading has been in line with managementexpectations.
However, Premier Foods drops 11.8 percent after announcing thatMichael Clarke is to step down as its chief executive after less than 18 monthsin the role. Clarke will be replaced as CEO by Gavin Darby.
"We see the surprise change of leadership as unhelpful to Premier'sstability and organic growth prospects. We are accordingly placing our 'Buy'recommendation under review and think investors should avoid the shares thismorning," Investec Securities says in a research note.
Waste management company Augean also has a tough time, falling 7.6percent after the company says it expects annual results to come in at the lowerend of the company's forecasts.
Reuters messaging rm://sudip.kargupta.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net
