Wed: Supermarket chain Morrisons, security company G4S and the aerospace engineer Meggitt looked to be on their way out of the FTSE 100 in the latest quarterly review.

The company narrowly missed demotion in the last quarterly reshuffles in June and September. Its share price has fallen 17% this year and it currently stands 111th in the list of top stocks.

Greene King, owner of Belhaven, gained more than 10% after posting a rise in profit in its first set of interim results since taking over smaller rival Spirit Pub.

Moneysupermarket fell 6.6% after its founder sold a stake in the company.

Shire, GlaxoSmithKline and AstraZeneca were the standout gainers today as the sector got a boost from a note by Morgan Stanley, which double upgraded AZN to ‘overweight’ from ‘underweight’ and said it was among its top picks.

Merlin Entertainments was a riser, up 2.3%, following a well-received trading statement on Monday, in which the theme parks group confirmed it was likely to end the year on firmer foundations. It said full year profit forecasts were expected to meet lowered expectations despite the continued significant weakness at Alton Towers since the crash on its Smiler ride in June.

The FTSE100 was up 29pts just before the close at 6,424.