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UK markets have opened higher, buoyed by the latest ONS data showing retail sales rose 2.1% to 'partly' recover in February 2021 from their steep decline the previous month, but were still down by 3.7% on a year earlier.
The FTSE 100 was up 0.9% at 6,734.41, while the FTSE 250 gained 0.7% at 21,428.35.
Insurer Aviva has climbed 1.6% to 406.4p on the news it has agreed to sell its Poland business to Allianz for €2.5 billion amid plans to focus on its businesses in the UK, Ireland and Canada.
The deal is its eighth transaction in as many months.
Oxford Instruments has soared 12.7% to £20.19 as the company said it expected revenue to be 'marginally ahead' of last year and adjusted operating profit for the 2020/21 financial year to be between £55 million to £57 million, following 'good progress' in the second half of the year.
Engineering group Smiths has jumped 5.1% to £15.33 after it posted a 'robust set of results' in the first half of 2021, that it said reflected its high proportion of aftermarket revenues.
The group reported that revenue declined 7% on a reported basis, to £1,150 million and added that it delivered 'good profit conversion'.
Bidstack has taken a tumble, down 1.8% to 5.9p after the in-game advertising company said it expected revenue for 2021, while 'materially greater' than 2020, will continue to be significantly second half weighted.
The outlook was provided alongside preliminary results for the year ended 2020, showing an adjusted pre-tax loss of £6.99 million.
Pets at Home has nudged up 1.3% to 391.1p after announcing chief financial officer Mike Iddon has been appointed to the board of Wickes.
Syncona has gained 0.6% to 260p after it announced an investment of $42.3 million in clinical-stage gene therapy portfolio company Gyroscope Therapeutics alongside specialist global institutional investors in a $148 million Series C financing.
It also said that Gyroscope Therapeutics is considering additional capital raising options, which could include an IPO in the US.