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UK stocks opened higher on Wednesday after companies including Barratt Developments, Bunzl and Synthomer released positive updates and the government appeared to resist opposition calls for a second national lockdown.
At 0829, the benchmark FTSE 100 index was up 28.74 points, or 0.5%, at 5,998.45.
Work and pensions minister Therese Coffey told Sky News that Prime Minister Boris Johnson wasn't keen on a national lockdown following calls from Labor leader Keir Starmer for a two-to-three week 'circuit breaker'.
In company news, chemicals company Synthomer soared 26% to 419.2p, having upgraded its annual earnings guidance and reinstated its dividend after demand for its latex products spiked during the Covid-19 crisis.
Synthomer's earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation for the year through December were now expected at around £232 million, some 10% higher than previous guidance.
Home builder Barratt Developments firmed 1.1% to 550p on announcing that its completions and sales improved by more than a fifth in the period from 1 July to 11 October, thanks to strong demand.
Food delivery platform Just Eat Takeaway fattened 5.2% to £93.04 as it reported 'accelerated' third-quarter order growth of 46% from the prior-year period.
Online fashion retailer Asos dropped 5.0% to £51.10 despite posting a large rise in annual profit to £142.1 million, up from £33.1 million year-on-year.
Asos had made a 'solid' start to the new year, but said it was cautious about its outlook 'whilst economic prospects and lifestyles of 20-somethings remain disrupted'.
Educational publishing and services group Pearson gained 2.6% to 584.6p even as its revenue for the nine months through September slipped 14%, putting in on track to 'broadly' meet market expectations for the full year.
A bright spot for Pearson was global online learning sales, which rose 14%, though that was more than offset by pain caused by school closures and continuing weakness in its US text book division.
Distribution and services group Bunzl rose 4.9% to £26.78 as it forecast strong growth in second-half sales after they rose 4% in the third quarter, though it added its outlook remained uncertain due to Covid-19 restrictions.
Security services company and takeover target G4S eked out a 0.1% gain to 209.8p, having reported a 2% fall in revenue in the first nine months of the year.
G4S also said said its underlying earnings remained ahead of the prior year, thanks to cost cuts and refinancing benefits.
Recruitment firm PageGroup edged up 0.1% to 411.6p as its gross profit slumped 34% in the third quarter.
PageGroup said its profit performance was nevertheless on an improving trend, with gross profit on a constant currency basis having fallen 26% in September, compared with 48% in the second quarter and 32% in the third.
Eastern European focused liquor maker Stock Spirits advanced 4.7% to 235.5p on announcing that annual trading was ahead of its expectations, with volumes up in Poland and the Czech Republic.
Surveillance systems group Petards jumped 13% to 7.35p after it won a contract worth more than £1.3 million from Porterbrook Maintenance for the supply of systems in trains.