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UK stocks opened higher on Tuesday after new health secretary Sajid Javid insisted on Monday that Covid-19 restrictions would end on 19 July and that the public "must learn to live' with the disease.
At 0820, the benchmark FTSE 100 index was up 31.35 points, or 0.4%, at 7,104.32.
Medical services group UDG Healthcare rose 0.5% to £10.71 after it recommended shareholders accept a sweetened and 'final' £2.76 billion bid from Clayton, Dubilier & Rice, in the absence of a rival offer.
The bid had been raised to £10.80 per UDG share, up 5.6% from the £10.23 offered in May.
House builder Barratt Developments rose 1.4% to 713p on news that it had poached Countryside Properties chief financial officer Mike Scott. Countryside Properties climbed 0.5% to 485.2p.
Wealth manager Standard Life Aberdeen added 0.5% to 280.3p after it sold down a 4.99% stake in India's HDFC Life Insurance for Rs 67.3 billion (£652 million).
The sale meant that Standard Life Abderdeen had reduced its stake in the life insurer to 3.89%.
Diagnostics and innovative cancer therapies group Avacta rallied 9.6% to 183.56p on announcing that its Covid-19 test had detected the Delta variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus in clinical samples.
Restaurant owner Tasty rose 5.7% to 6.34p after it said it had achieved 'strong' like-for-like growth compared to 2019 in the six weeks since lockdowns were eased.
Tasty had reopened most of its estate since lockdown restrictions were lifted on 17 May, with 49 of its 54 sites now fully open.
Specialist cleaning group React slumped 12% to 2.9p, even as it booked a 48% rise in first-half profit, boosted by demand for decontamination and deep cleaning services owing to the pandemic.
Housing services provider Mears firmed 3.5% to 190.5p after it said it expected to pay a first-half dividend amid a recovery in trading conditions.
Data solutions provider D4t4 Solutions dropped 6.7% to 369p having reported a fall in annual profit as higher revenue was offset by steeper expenses. Drug delivery technology group Midatech Pharma fell 4.6% to 31p after it raised £10 million from a share placing to fund its product development pipeline, at 28.5p a share.
Legal services group NAHL added 2.9% to 49.4p on announcing that it was 'pleased' with the level of interest shown by potential buyers of its residential property business.
Telematics group Trakm8 reversed 4.4% to 17.2p, having booked a full-year loss as its sales slumped during the pandemic, though it said it expected to return to the black this year.