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UK markets have been buoyed as the government revealed its plans for children to return to school full-time in September.
Meanwhile, the UK has offered residency and eventual citizenship for up to three million Hong Kong residents following a new security law imposed by Beijing. But the Chinese embassy in the UK said the offer would be stopped with 'corresponding measures'.
The flagship index is up 0.9%, or 52.06 points, to 6,210.02, while the FTSE 250 has also risen 0.9% to 17,341.88.
Associated British Food has soared 7.5% to £21.11 despite reporting that it expected a sharp decline in Primark revenue after sales slipped 75% in the third quarter owing to store closures during the lockdown.
For the full year, the company expects strong progress in the aggregate adjusted operating profit of its sugar, grocery, agriculture and ingredients businesses.
Meggitt has taken off 7.3% to 327.5p even as it warned of a hit to first-half group revenue which it expects to be 15% lower than in the same period a year earlier, due to lower revenues in both civil aerospace and energy.
The component supplier to the defence and aerospace sectors said that in the second quarter widespread lockdowns had a 'material impact' on civil aerospace.
DS Smith has tanked 8.3% to 292.2p as the packaging company reported a 2% decline in revenue to £6.04bn in its full-year results, due to reduced pricing and volumes in Europe.
It saw a 'relatively limited' impact on operating profit of approximately £15m in the final two months of the year from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Mitchells & Butlers has nudged up 0.8% to 193.2p as it reported a pre-tax loss of £121m in its half-year but said that it has been 'encouraged' that sales levels have grown each week at its German business since it re-opened in May.
LondonMetric Property climbed 2.1% to 216.2p on the news that it would increase its first-quarter dividend following high levels of rent collection in the quarter.
The company said that 95% of advance rental payments due up to 24 June, had been collected.
4D Pharma has notched up a 0.1% rise to 40.9p as it said its phase 2 clinical trial of a drug to treat the respiratory symptoms associated with Covid-19 was now open to enrolment, with the dosing of the first patients expected shortly.
Lekoil is 5.7% higher to 2.3p as it reported its subsidiary Lekoil Oil and Gas Investments had secured a US$3.5m prepayment facility agreement with Shell Western Supply.
Air Partner has accelerated 3% to 86.7p on the news it had continued to perform 'significantly ahead' of budget in June and had seen a recovery in both its private jets and safety & security businesses following weakness earlier this year.