GKN Plc (LON:GKN) remained one of London's most traded stocks on Tuesday, along with the FTSE 100 natural resource stocks.
The engineering firm's shares were up 1.5%, changing hands at 444.1p, as traders continue to speculate around the possibility of a transaction with Melrose Industries Plc (LON:MRO).
Rio Tinto Plc (LON:RIO), BHP Billiton plc (LON:BLT), and Anglo American Plc (LON:AAL) were all well traded, and all were down - each losing between 2.5% and 2.8%.
Glencore Plc (LON:GLEN) was down 1.99% at 401.39p.
BP Plc (LON:BP), meanwhile, which was down 2.46% trading at 519.5p after the latest oil spill payment update.
Alcohol drinks group Diageo plc (LON:DGE) was also among the most exchanged shares, it was down 0.7% at 2,601p.
Provident Financial Plc (LON:PFG), meanwhile, was down more than 8% changing hands at 843.2p as the lender's latest trading update revealed further struggles.
Instem Plc (LON:INS) was among the notable small cap movers, rising 28% in Tuesday dealing, after the medical contractor landed more than ?1.7mln of new business and updated on its 'in line' trading performance through 2017.
Thor Mining PLC (LON:THR) gained 22%, to trade at 2.29p, following progress in the group's "very positive" lithium portfolio and revealed a value-adding investment has been made into the US Lithium vehicle.
United Oil & Gas PLC (LON:UOG) advanced nearly 8% to trade at 4.85p, thanks to a deal to acquire a stake in an oil project in South West England, by paying a share of the costs of a well in the second quarter of the year.
Haike Chemical Group Ltd (LON:HAIK) shares slumped, down 35% trading at 18p, after cautioning over "critically difficult market conditions" and flagging that the company is now exploring options for future strategy - including a cancellation of the AIM listing and a possible future as a private company.
Shares in Medica Group PLC (LON:MGP) dropped 12.5%, to trade at 169.6p, following a warning that the company's performance is expected to be slightly behind market expectations.
SimiGon Limited (LON:SIM) was down 6%, trading at 16.9p, updated on trading and said it was in talks with a customer in the civilian training market in order to resolve uncertainty regarding "the level of revenue to be recognized" from a significant contract.
BP PLC (LON:BP) slipped 1.5% lower, to trade at 524.60p, after it confirmed it will be taking a further US$1.7bn hit for US oil spill damages, in the fourth quarter of 2017, though it is expected to be the last one - meaning investors and management can finally start putting the disaster in the rear view mirror.
Cash payments for 2017 now amount to some US$3bn, which is 50% more than guided by the company back in the third quarter last year.
Rio Tinto PLC (LON:RIO), meanwhile, told investors it had hit its iron ore export targets despite difficulties with weather and rail issues. Nonetheless, the share was down 29p or 0.7% at 4,143.
Specialist personal lender Provident Financial PLC (LON:PFG) dropped 25p or 2.7%, to 895p, after revealing expectations that its credit division will report a ?120mln pre-exceptional loss, which would be at the top end of prior guidance to investors.
Pie shop Greggs PLC (LON:GRG) was on the rise, up 41p or 3.14% to 1,346p, as it revealed piping hot trading figures for the full year, with total sales up 7.4% on the preceding year while like-for-like shop sales showed a 3.7% rise.
JD Sports PLC (LON:JD. leapt 7.2% higher, up 26.3p to 391.8p per share, as it told investors that "positive trends", reported previously, had continued and like-for-like growth is anticipated at around 3%.
Homeware retailer Dunelm PLC (LON:DNLM), meanwhile, said Christmas store sales were up 1.1% year-on-year whereas online transactions increased by around 30%. The shares were down 9p or 1.28% to 692p.
Instem PLC (LON:INS) has won a new two-year "Standard for the Exchange of Nonclinical Data" outsourced services contract worth in excess of ?1.7mln over an initial period. The company said results for 2017 should be in line with expectations and that 2018 has started well.
Anglo Asian Mining (LON:AAZ) produced just over 72,000 gold equivalent ounces during 2017, roughly flat on production in 2016, but a considerable achievement given that the main open pit at Gedabek was on planned suspension for a considerable portion of the period.
Shares in ValiRx PLC (LON:VAL) jumped at the opening bell on Tuesday after the biotech released more positive results from the Phase II lung cancer trial of its VAL401 anti-cancer compound.
Mobile ad platform developer Taptica International PLC (LON:TAP) has raised US$30mln in new money through a placing alongside sales by some shareholders. A bookbuild exercise for 4.85mln shares at 450p (8% of the current shares in issue) raised the cash for the company.
Talks between Premier African Minerals Ltd (LON:PREM) and Zimbabwe's official Indigenisation body, the NIEEF, are continuing after poor production numbers raised questions about the future of the RHA tungsten mine. Premier's George Roach said that the NIEEF is now willing to consider a mechanism to restructure its 51% ownership of RHA.
Hummingbird Resources PLC (LON:HUM) ended 2017 with around US$40mln cash in the bank, after having brought the Yanfolila gold project in Mali into production on time and on budget. The plan is for Yanfolila to produce 130,000 ounces of gold in its first full year of production. The Malian president will officially open the mine on 14 February.
InnovaDerma PLC (LON:IDP), maker of the hugely successful Skinny Tan beauty range, said it remains confident of meeting market expectations for the year and has much greater visibility on revenues for the second half than it has in the past. The update came in a trading statement that covered the six months ended December 31 in which it said turnover grew by 31% on a constant currency basis to ?4.2mln.
Midatech Pharma PLC (LONMTPH, NASDAQ:MTP) said it has received approval for an investigational new drug application that will allow it to conduct a study of MTX110. The nanotechnology is being used to develop a possible treatment for diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma, an ultra-rare and fatal brain cancer found in children.
Motif Bio PLC (LON:MTFB, NASDAQ:MTFB) said it had received a US$120,000 award from the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. It will be used to fund early-stage (in vitro) research into using its next-generation antibiotic, iclaprim, to treat sufferers of the disease who have drug-resistant lung infections.
Genedrive PLC's (LON:GDR) Hepatitis C (HCV) ID Kit has undergone more rigorous and successful testing - this time in Africa.
Trinidad focused Touchstone Exploration Inc (LON:TXP) told investors that monthly figures for December saw oil sales of 1,536 barrels per day, up from 1,337 bopd in the month of November. Notably, production from the four wells drilled during 2017 was described as "strong", averaging 283 bopd for November and December.
Savannah Resources PLC (LON:SAV) told investors that three applications for mining leases have been submitted to the Ministry of Mineral Resources and Energy in Mozambique, for the Mutamba heavy mineral sands projects.
Gold recovery group Goldplat PLC (LON:GDP) has granted Canada-listed Ashanti Gold Corp (CVE:AGZ) an extension to complete its farm-in at the Anumso gold project in Ghana. Ashanti has an option to acquire 51% of Goldplat's interest in Anumso through US$1.5mln of exploration expenditure. This option has now been extended until 31 October this year.
Ferrum Crescent Ltd (LON:FCR) has hired Daniel Smith as its new non-executive director and company secretary with immediate effect. At the same time, the AIM-quoted junior mining group has engaged Minerva Corporate - which is part-owned and controlled by Smith - to support finance and administrative functions.
NetScientific PLC (LON:NSCI), the healthcare intellectual property commercialisation group, said all of its portfolio companies advanced their commercial operations in 2018.
Secured debt-focused investment trust RM Secured Direct Lending PLC (LON:RDML) saw its net asset value per share rise 0.23p to 98.59p in December. The shares currently trade at 102.15p.
Professor Stuart Martin from the University of Maryland School of Medicine is to present a webinar on Wednesday (17 January) describing his breakthrough work using ANGLE PLC's (LON:AGL) Parsortix system.