The biggest riser in early trading was financial services company Standard Life (SL.L), as it revealed strong results for the first six months of the year.

Its share price rose 10.7 per cent to 192.7p (at 1018), as the sentiment towards the FTSE 100 returned in what has been a volatile week for the index.

In its half year results, Standard Life revealed a 44 per cent year-on-year rise in pre-tax operating profits to £262 million.

Listed hedge fund Man Group (EMG.L) saw its share price rise by 8.1 per cent to 196p, as engineer Weir Group (WEIR.L) climbed 6.6 per cent to 1,816p.

Vedanta Resources (VED.L) saw its share price icrease by 5 per cent to 1,383p, as Barclays (BARC.L) - which has seen its share price affected by sovereign debt exposure - rose 4.5 per cent to 187.3p.

Emerging markets-focused bank Standard Chartered (STAN.L) and Essar Energy (ESSR.L) both dropped 2 per cent to 1,453p and 294p, respectively.

Tesco (TSCO.L) dropped 1 per cent to 366.35p as it was named in a group of supermarkets and dairy producers fined £49.5 million by the Office of Fair Trading.

Vodafone (VOD.L) and Smiths Group (SMIN.L) both shed 0.9 per cent, dropping to 160p and 986.5p, respectively.

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