London equities held on to its gains by mid session on Thursday as further merger and acquisition activity kept dealers on their toes. The FTSE 100 was up 0.3 per cent at 4,740.1 and the mid-cap FTSE 250 was down 0.1 per cent at 6,752.8. Volume was 1.1bn shares by 12:45 GMT./www.news.ft.com/