Tullow Oil (TLW.L) and engineer IMI (IMI.L) were the biggest risers at the close of trading, as both saw share prices increase by 3.8 per cent.

Tullow rose to 1,301p after it reported record first half revenue of more than $1 billion.

Aidan Heavey, chief executive of Tullow Oil, said performance had been 'excellent' since the start of 2011.

He said, 'Looking forward, we have a busy programme of E&A [exploration and appraisal] activity in the second half including the result of our first exploration well in South America and a number of Jubilee follow-on campaigns in Guyana, Liberia and Sierra Leone.'

IMI rose to 1,119p on the back of reports of positive recommendations from brokers.

Household goods company Reckitt Benckiser (RB.L) added 2.6 per cent to its share price increasing to 3,578p, as reports of a potential takeover surfaced.

Marks & Spencer (MKS.L) rose 2.5 per cent to 376p, while life insurance consolidator Resolution (RSL.L) was up 1.9 per cent to 298.2p.

The biggest faller was testing company Intertek (ITRK.L) dropping 2.7 per cent to 1,910p, after a downgrade to 'hold' from Societe Generale.

Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY.L) shed 2.2 per cent, down to 48.78p, with peer Barclays (BARC.L) also losing 1.2 per cent closing on 259.5p.

Elsewhere, microchip manufacturer Arm Holdings (ARM.L) and resources company Rio Tinto (RIO.L) were both down 1.3 per cent to 601.5p and 4,478p, respectively.