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UK stocks inched higher in early trading on Monday as investors braced for a big week of economic data releases and rates decision from central banks in the UK and US.
At 0823, the benchmark FTSE 100 index was up 4.35 points at 7,296.13.
Mining titan BHP added 1.9% to £21.675 after Australian iron ore magnate Andrew Forrests's Wyloo Metals trumped BHP's bid for Canadian nickel producer Noront Resources.
Wyloo Metals raised its offer for Noront Resources to C$1.10 per share, having ended talks to support BHP's rival bid.
Homewares retailer Dunelm cheapened 1.3% to £13.38 on news that chief financial officer Laura Carr was standing down to take up an opportunity elsewhere.
Carr was expected to remain at the business until the beginning of June. Dunelm said it had continued to see 'strong trading momentum'.
Estate agent Purplebricks sank 12% to 27.88p, having delayed the release of its first-half results after it found a problem in how it was communicating with tenants that could cost it up to £9 million.
Purplebricks said it had recently became aware of a 'process issue' in how it had been communicating with tenants on behalf of its landlords in relation to deposit registrations.
Specialist recruiter SThree dropped 5.1% to 518p on announcing its annual net fees had risen 19%, though its chief executive Mark Dorman would stand down at the end of December.
Senior managing director Timo Lehne would become SThree's interim CEO, with Dorman staying until 1 April to assist with the leadership transition.
Home repairs and improvements business HomeServe fell 0.6% to 879.5p as it agreed to sell the Piedmont insurance policy book to Piedmont for about $22 million, rather than continue to manage it in run-off.
HomeServe said it intended to re-invest the proceeds in additional organic marketing activity across its other affinity partnerships.
Vietnam equities investor Vietnam Enterprise Investments firmed 0.7% to 771.99p, having posted a positive monthly performance in November, just below its benchmark.
The company's net asset value in November rose 1.7% over the previous month, compared with 2.5% increase for the Vietnam Index, in US dollar terms.
Marking consultancy Next 15 rallied 4.9% to £11.75 on announcing that trading had continued to be strong and ahead of management expectations, helped by the strength of the US dollar.
Next 15's revenue for the three months through October was risen around 38% year-on-year, with organic revenue up 26%.
Tech company WANdisco gained 3.3% to 340.75p after it won a contract with a top-five UK banking group that it didn't name.