The blue-chip index briefly got its head back above 7,000 this morning as it clawed back some of yesterday's losses.
At 1pm, the FTSE 100 index was up 42 at 6,991 as investors wait to see what today's Queen's Speech in parliament holds.
Fags maker Imperial Tobacco (LON:IMT) is burning brightly after it agreed to buy Reynolds American's Winston, Kool, Salem and Maverick brands.
IMPS is benefiting from the Reynold-Lorillard merger as the new combined company has had to sell off some parts of the business. IMPS' shares rose 2.2% to 3,354p.
In other merger news, Irish building materials firm CRH (LON:CRH) confirmed after the market closed yesterday it has closed the deal with Lafarge and Holcim to buy some of their assets, subject to the merger between the two European cement giants going ahead.
CRH was up 2.3% at 1,817p while sector peers such as Ashtead Group (LON:AHT), up 2.9%, Travis Perkins (LON:TPK), up 2.2%, and Wolseley (LON:WOS), up 2.0%, rose in sympathy.
Synergy Healthcare (LON:SYR) is down 16.4%. There are concerns that the proposed takeover of the company by US group Steris may be blocked by the US Federal Trade Commission.
Engineering company Weir Group (LON:WEI) was off the pace after a downgrade from Deutsche Bank.
The broker dropped its ‘buy’ rating to a ‘hold’ after the company made its biggest gain in more than a month. Shares slipped 1.4% to 1,974p.
In other broker news, JP Morgan Cazenove upgraded niche insurers Beazley (LON:BEZ) and Hiscox (LON:HSX); both are now rated as ‘overweight’. Shares rose 5.9% to 300p and 2.9% to 856.5p respectively.
Elsewhere, International Airlines Group (LON:IAG) is pressing ahead with its €1.4bn bid for Aer Lingus after the Irish government agreed to sell its 25% stake in the Irish flag carrier. Shares in IAG rose 0.5% to 547.4p.
Bank note printer De La Rue’s (LON:DARL) shares took a hit as it announced its profits fell by £20mln and it slashed its dividend.
Chief executive Martin Sutherland said this year would be just as difficult sending shares tumbling 9% to 504.5p.
Brewin Dolphin (LON:BRW) fell 8.3% following its mixed bag of a trading update. Funds under management have risen this year but commissions are down as trading volumes through the Scottish stockbroker have fallen.
In small cap news, Secure Property (LON:SPDI) shot up 21.8% as the south-east Europe-focused property and investment company revealed underlying earnings (EBITDA) quadrupled in 2014.
Drugs developer ValiRx (LON:VAL) put out a statement after seeing its share surge this morning saying it knew of no reason for the share price movement.
Trinity Exploration & Production (LON:TRIN) told investors its strategic review process is well underway, and it is considering a number options. Shares dropped 12% to 13.6p as it continues to hold talks with potential buyers.
The shares drifted back to 54p, up 3.8%, having hit 76.8p at one stage.
Shares in Lansdowne Oil (LON:LOGP) fell as there has been no development on the farm-out process for the Barryroe asset off the coast of Ireland which Lansdowne holds a 20% interest. Shares eased 17.2% to 6.63p.