The FTSE Small Cap index climbs 0.1 percent,underperforming junior-listed AIM shares, up 0.7percent, as well as the mid-caps and the blue chips, which notch up respective gains of 0.8 percent and 1.3percent.
London-listed Polyus Gold, Russia's biggest goldminer, gains 4 percent after it reports 2013 earnings. Althoughearnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation(EBITDA), adjusted for the impairment charge, were down 30percent to $910 million, they beat the consensus forecast of$859 million in a Reuters poll of analysts.
Petrel Resources falls 11.8 percent after mediaspeculation that the Ghanaian government is ratifying anagreement from a third party for the exploration of oil in theTano Basin, in which Petrel already holds an indirect stakethrough the Tano 2A Block.
Petrel releases a statement saying it was "urgently seeking"clarification from the Ghanaian authorities that the move didnot relate to its own stake in the basin, and was seeking aninjunction to prevent any third party from being awarded anypart of the Tano 2A block.
Reuters messagingrm://alistair.smout.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net