Aggreko (LON:AGK) powered up the blue chip leaderboard on Tuesday after an encouraging trading update from the temporary power provider.
The share price jumped 4% in early deals to 1,570p after the group said it made an “encouraging start to the year”.
“Overall, the Local business has had a good start to the year,” it continued.
“Order intake year to date in Power Projects has been strong, but a significant proportion of this is for relatively short-term work, so we continue to be cautious.”
There was no reference however to the search for a successor to departing chief executive Rupert Soames, who was poached earlier in the year by troubled outsourcer Serco.
Aggreko was the top riser on the Footsie, closely followed by aerospace engineer GKN (LON:GKN) after its first quarter profit rose 22%.
The FTSE 100 though slipped in early trade as heavyweights such as Rio Tinto (LON:RIO) and SABMiller (LON:SAB) dragged the index down.
Mining giant Rio Tinto’s first quarter iron ore production fell short of expectations, while shipments were affected by bad weather in the Pilbara region in Western Australia.
The shares were down 1.6%, less than the decline seen by SABMiller investors, who watched their stock trickle 2.9% lower.
Currencies weighed on earnings for the Peroni brewer, which has a vast presence in emerging markets.
Away from the top flight, Providence Resources (LON:PVR) leapt 8% to just below 200p following a media report claiming the oil explorer is close to securing a $300mln investment.
The group, run by Tony O’Reilly Jr, has been sounding out potential industry partners to invest in the Barryroe field in the Celtic Sea off the south coast of Ireland.
Providence has an 80% stake in the field as the operator, while Lansdowne Oil & Gas (LON:LOGP), up 16%, owns the remaining 20%.
Other AIM risers included Tangiers Petroleum (LON:TPET), up 4%, as it appointed oil and gas analyst David Wall as its new managing director.
The 39-year-old brings with him specialist knowledge of Africa-focused junior explorers and also a good understanding of the capital markets, having helped companies raise over US$300mln.
ReNeuron (LON:RENE) rose 5% to 3.2p as the stem cell research group mapped out plans to set up shop in South Wales.
The move from Guildford to the state-of-the-art facility at the Pencoed Technology Park is part of the £33mln funding from the Welsh Government and the Welsh life Sciences Fund.
AIM-listed ReNeuron plans to start moving to the new R&D (research and development), manufacturing and headquarters facility in April 2015 when the conversion of the existing building is complete.
The cost of converting and fitting out the building will be borne by the Welsh Government.