Shares in the Royal rat catcher topped the FTSE 100 leaderboard as it emerged as a takeover target.

Rentokil Initial, which won pest control contracts at Buckingham Palace in the 1960s, was in focus following weekend reports that former BT boss Philip Jansen is lining up a £15bn swoop.

According to the Sunday Times he is drumming up private equity funding for a deal that will see him installed as executive chairman.

Private equity firms CVC and Bain Capital are among those said to be interested.

Rentokil declined to comment but shares surged 7.8pc, or 34.8p, to 482.9p.

The stock has plunged by a quarter over the past year, leaving it vulnerable to predators.

Joe Biden's decision to pull out of the race for the White House was the talk of trading rooms around the world. With investors grappling with what it will mean, the FTSE 100 rose 0.53pc, or 43.06 points, to 8198.78 and the FTSE250 added 0.34pc, or 71 points, to 21,138.68.

An upgrade from JPMORGAN sent shares in Travis Perkins to their highest level for more than a year. The building supplier's stock rose 1.8pc, or 17p, to 936p.

Vodafone sold another 10pc stake in Oak Holdings - the partnership that controls the phone masts business Vantage Towers - for £1.1bn. The telecoms giant will use the proceeds to reduce its debt. Vodafone shares slipped 0.1pc, or 0.08p, to 70.42p.

Mony Group, which is behind the comparison website Moneysupermarket, reported record first-half revenues and profit.

Sales rose 5pc to £223.5m in the six months to the end of June while profits increased 8pc to £73m. The company attributed the strong performance to a surge in car and home insurance switching. Shares edged down 0.3pc, or 0.6p, to 227p.

Ceres Power hiked its annual forecast after securing its second licence partner this year.

The solid oxide fuel cell technology company expects its revenues to have more than doubled to between £27m and £29m in the first half of the year.

As a result, it increased its annual sales forecast to between £50m and £60m compared to a previous estimate of around £44m. The outlook came as Ceres signed a long-term licence agreement with an unnamed manufacturer based in the Asia Pacific region to develop equipment to produce hydrogen.

It is the company's second partner of the year after it signed a long-term deal following its agreement with the Taiwanese manufacturer Delta Electronics in January. Shares surged 7.5pc, or 13.9p, to 200p.

More than 600,000 UK firms face financial strain amid a challenging economic climate, according to Begbies Traynor.

The insolvency firm said travel and tourism, hotels and accommodation, health and education and bars and restaurants were the worst affected sectors in the second quarter of this year.