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The FTSE 100 remained in positive territory by midday although short of its highs for the day, up 0.3% to 7,256.30.
Investors continue to weigh the threat to the economy posed by the Omicron variant.
The UK jobless rate fell to 4.2%, down from 4.3% previously, with the claimant count falling by a better-than-expected 49,700.
Pest control group Rentokil Initial gained 2.9% to 642.6p as investors embraced news that it had agreed to acquire rival Terminix Global for $6.7 billion in cash and shares.
Terminix investors would get about 643.3 million in new Rentokil shares and about $1.3 billion in cash, which Rentokil said represented a 47% premium to the closing price of Terminix stock on Tuesday.
Telecom giant BT reversed 4.4% to 167.25p after investor Altice UK said although it had upped its stake in the company to 18%, it still had no intention of making a takeover bid.
'Over recent months we have engaged constructively with the board and management of BT and look forward to continuing that dialogue,' Altice UK's Patrick Drahi said.
Online grocery and logistics group Ocado rallied 4.6% to £16.64 on announcing fourth-quarter revenue at its retail JV with Marks & Spencer fell 3.9%, though was still up 32% on the same period in 2019. It also benefited from a positive ruling overnight in its US patent case against Norwegian robot maker AutoStore.
Ocado said fourth-quarter trends reflected strong momentum in underlying demand, while forecasting its 'best-ever Christmas ahead'. Marks & Spencer added 0.3% to 234.3p.
Defence company Chemring dropped 1.9% to 283.4p even as it reported a rise in annual profit, buoyed by stronger margins that had offset a 2% slip in revenue.
Chemring's underlying operating margin expanded to 14.6% from 13.6%, thanks to growth in the higher-margin sensors and information segment and continued cost cutting.
Lifestyle brand Joules tumbled 26% to 144p after it warned on profits for both the first half and the full year, as supply-chain challenges overshadow a recovery in sales.
Joules was now expecting first-half pre-tax profit before adjusted items of £2.0 million-to-£2.5 million, down from £3.7 million year-on-year, with a full-year figure of £9 million-to-£12 million.
Builders' merchant Travis Perkins added 1.1% to £15.105 on announcing that it had extended an initial £100 million share buy-back by a further £70 million.
Travis Perkins also said it would update shareholders about capital returns at its annual results briefing on 1 March 2022.
Brake disc manufacturer Surface Transforms skidded 13% lower to 45.64p having warned that its annual revenue would fall significantly short of expectations due to delays in the development of a production facility.
Revenue for the year through December was now expected to be below £3 million, the shortfall mainly due to delays in final commissioning of upscaled production capacity at Knowsley.
Oil company SDX Energy slumped 15% to 7p after a drilling campaign in Morocco had been delayed due to operational issues and Covid-19 border restrictions.
The two-well campaign initially expected to finish at the end of December was not now expected to complete in the middle of the 2022 first quarter, SDX said.