Design and engineering consultancy group WS Atkins jumped after it topped expectations with its interim profits, and signalled optimism for the future by announcing that it has resumed recruiting. Property consultancy Savills got off to a positive start on Thursday after announcing that its overall underlying result for the full year will be slightly ahead of its original expectations. In the UK, investment activity has continued to be strong in the Central London market, but for the most part has remained subdued elsewhere. Nickel miner Talvivaara fell after replacing its CEO Harri Natunen with Pekka Perä following the interruption to metals production caused by leakage in a gypsum pond. Construction group Kier was in demand after saying that it remains on course to meet full year expectations as it builds momentum towards the second half of the year. Meanwhile, New World Resources suffered after JP Morgan reduced its target price from 260p to 210p and downgraded the stock to underweight. Jefferies cut its target price from 300p to 275p and reiterated a hold recommendation. On Wednesday the company announced that it had seen a big drop in revenues and profits over the first nine months of the year as it was hit by floundering demand in steel markets. FTSE 250 - RisersAtkins (WS) (ATK) 704.00p +10.34%TalkTalk Telecom Group (TALK) 220.00p +4.76%Bumi (BUMI) 276.70p +4.26%Bank of Georgia Holdings (BGEO) 1,072.00p +3.78%Kier Group (KIE) 1,143.00p +3.35%Balfour Beatty (BBY) 249.00p +3.28%Domino Printing Sciences (DNO) 537.50p +2.97%Invensys (ISYS) 222.30p +2.92%Dechra Pharmaceuticals (DPH) 587.00p +2.80%Stobart Group Ltd. (STOB) 108.80p +2.64%FTSE 250 - FallersRuspetro (RPO) 91.75p -7.79%Man Group (EMG) 73.95p -5.43%New World Resources A Shares (NWR) 237.00p -4.13%Imagination Technologies Group (IMG) 447.00p -3.85%Centamin (DI) (CEY) 67.90p -3.69%BBA Aviation (BBA) 197.80p -3.13%London Stock Exchange Group (LSE) 929.50p -2.47%Home Retail Group (HOME) 107.30p -2.45%Anite (AIE) 127.80p -2.44%Shanks Group (SKS) 84.40p -2.43%NR