London opened higher with the headlines made by gold and a momentous week for Greece
The FTSE100 added 20 points to 6,795 as Greek banks reopen after the system received life-saving cash from the ECB.
Angela Merkel, whose German parliament signed off on the £60bn rescue package last week, has said she wants withdrawal limits swiftly lifted in the country.
The easing of the Greece crisis had a knock-on effect on the price of gold, which slumped to a five year low of US$1,107 over the weekend on expectations that a rise in US interest rates is not far away.
Reports today suggested that a sale of five tonnes in China on Friday had sent the already weak price tumbling further.
The sale represented 20% of a normal day’s volume in just two minutes.
Miners Randgold Resources (LON:RRS) and Fresnillo (LON:FRES) were two of the worst performers today, shedding 2% to 3,914p and 2.5% to 642p respectively.
Other fallers included Marks & Spencer (LON:MKS) down 6p to 538p, Prudential (LON;PRU) was also 1% lower at 1,618p after US broker Jefferies cut its rating to ‘hold’ from buy.
Sports Direct (LON;SPD), up 17p to 764p and Sage (LON:SGE), 8p better at 539p, led the risers.
Computer aided design group Aveva (LON:AVV) dominated the headlines outside the FTSE 100.
The company was one of the biggest risers of the day as it signed a deal to merge with Schneider Electric’s.
The deal, worth £1.3bn, will see Schneider pay £550mln plus assets for a 53% stake in the enlarged company. Shares in Aveva shot up 30% to 2,311p.
In small caps, Sabien Technology (LON:SNT) issued new shares to raise £770,000 to support a new, more aggressive, roll-out strategy for its boiler efficiency product. Shares jumped 10.5% to 7.18p.
Rising further still was Cluff Natural Resources (LON:CLNR) after it said significant progress has been made to accelerate the development of its underground coal gasification (UCG) assets in the Southern North Sea. Shares rocketed 15.4% to 3.75p.
Plans for an expansion of the Ming copper mine owned by Rambler Metals & Mining (LON:RMM) moved one step closer today with the release of a pre-feasibility study designed to show the economic potential of a development of the lower footwall zone. Shares in Rambler jumped 14.87% to 11.2p.
Meanwhile, Tomco Energy (LON:TOM) continued to build on Friday’s gains, climbing 44% to 0.26p.
The company said it received all necessary permits to take the Holliday Block shale oil project in Utah into production and development after being granted a ground water discharge permit and a construction permit.
It wasn’t all good news, however, as Chinese home products company Jiasen International (LON:JSI) said chief financial officer Kian Tan has resigned for "personal family reasons". Shares lost 14% to 5.38p.
Elsewhere, 88 energy (LON:88E) fell 19.23% to 0.5p after its shares were suspended in Australia pending an announcement about a capital raise.