After yesterday's shake-out it was a relief that the top-share index finished in the blue, albeit by only a small margin.
The FYSE 100 rose 16 points (0.23%) to 6,950 while the mid-cap FTSE 250 had a better day, rising 172 points (1%).
House builders and precious metals miners did their bit to lift spirits, but the best performer came from a different sector altogether: paper & packaging, where South African firm Mondi (LON:MNDI) stole the show with its interim management statement.
Operating profit was 29% higher than the previous year at €236mln. Shares leapt 9% to 1,414p.
Gold miners Acacia Mining and Centamin were wanted, adding 6% and 5.5% respectively, while house builder Barratt Developments (LON:BDEV) jumped 3.4% to 564p, as it revealed forward orders have climbed by 18%, prompting similar – and in some cases superior – advances by its sector peers.
Barratt raised it expectations for the number of homes it will sell this year, while chief executive Mark Clare hailed the Tory election victory as supportive for the industry.
Compass Group (LON:CPG) shares were left on the plate after the contract caterer's trading update, despite revenue rising 5.7% and profits advancing 6.5% to £688mln in the first half of the year.
The largest contract food service in the world said the economic environment in some of its emerging markets was uncertain and shares dropped 3.8% to 1,119p.
In small cap news, New World Oil & Gas (LON:NEW) was the biggest gainer today, climbing 84% to 0.29p.
The Jersey-based oil company said yesterday that a requisition by bulletin board favourite ChrisOil was invalid after he ended up buying a 48% stake in the company, rather than the 10% he had meant to.
Sector peer Alba Minerals' (LON:ALBA) shares shot up 32% after its broker issued a gravity-defying upgrade and described the AIM firm as the overlooked participant in the Horse Hill oil project.
The broker hiked its price target to a whopping 9.4p from 1.6p, and shares closed at 0.73p.
Reach4Entertainment Enterprises (LON:R4E), rallied 0.33p to 1.18p. The media and entertainment marketing company tried the old dodge on Monday of putting out a profit warning long after the market had closed, and was rewarded with the traditional market response of a mass sell-off first thing the following morning. The shares have rebounded today, despite Webb Capital Asset Management disclosing it has reduced its stake below 3%.
Another leisure-focused firm, Audioboom (LON:BOOM) was a hot ticket today with the shares up 15% at 8.20p, after high profile property developer Nick Candy purchased more than £500,000 worth of shares in the digital social media platform.