The FTSE 100 dipped early on after a bullish post-budget performance on Wednesday.
Grabbing headlines was Nationwide, which unveiled a deal to take over Virgin Money in a move which would create a group with combined assets of £366.3 billion.
Elsewhere, Aviva shares jumped in early trading after the insurer unveiled a 9% increase in full-year pre-tax profit to £1.47 billion and hiked its dividend by 8% to 33.4p.
ITV also enjoyed a strong start, after announcing solid growth in its production and streaming wings had largely offset a wider downturn in advertising spend last year.
And finally, Halifax said 2024 had so far brought relative stability for the housing market, as the lender reported prices had climbed by 1.7% in February.