House builder Persimmon was a high riser this afternoon as optimism over the government's 'Help to Buy' scheme continues to help the stock bounce off recent lows. The share price has now gained over 10 per cent over the last two days.Whitbread shares leapt on market chatter about a potential spin-off of its Costa Coffee chain. The group also got a boost from Oriel Securities which said the stock is a 'buy' given its intention to expand its UK network to 75,000 rooms by 2018. Analyst Jeffrey Harwood said Whitebread may split from the coffee chain on the basis that it "is difficult to believe that the group's current structure is optimal" based on its role within the company. Financial stocks were also top performers, particularly RBS, as signs of progress in Washington and hopes over a continuation of US monetary stimulus prompted a boost to investor confidence. GKN, the aerospace giant, rose after it this morning announced that it would replace William Seeger, Group Finance Director, with Adam Walker, who currently holds the same position at Informa. Seeger will step down from the role he has held since 2007 in February of next year, before retiring from the group altogether at the end of August. Meanwhile, defensive stocks, which have been popular of late, suffered modest declines, with the likes of National Grid, Unilever, SSE, and Centrica all taking a small hit. GlaxoSmithKline shares were lower after Credit Suisse downgraded the stock to 'underperform' from 'neutral'.FTSE 100 - RisersPersimmon (PSN) 1,191.00p +5.30%Whitbread (WTB) 3,117.00p +4.18%International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 338.90p +3.73%Legal & General Group (LGEN) 192.90p +3.43%Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 382.00p +3.33%ARM Holdings (ARM) 976.50p +3.28%Meggitt (MGGT) 545.00p +3.12%Prudential (PRU) 1,173.00p +3.08%easyJet (EZJ) 1,253.00p +3.04%GKN (GKN) 353.40p +2.97%FTSE 100 - FallersGlaxoSmithKline (GSK) 1,537.50p -0.81%National Grid (NG.) 738.50p -0.67%Unilever (ULVR) 2,336.00p -0.64%G4S (GFS) 237.60p -0.59%SSE (SSE) 1,449.00p -0.34%Vedanta Resources (VED) 1,017.00p -0.29%InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) 1,780.00p -0.28%Tesco (TSCO) 354.40p -0.10%Shire Plc (SHP) 2,385.00p -0.08%Centrica (CNA) 360.70p -0.03%NR