Britain's top shares rose on Thursday, led by AstraZeneca which gained after the U.S. approved its Brilinta drug and on strong results, as upbeat corporate earnings buoyed investor sentiment, according to Reuters By 0755 GMT, the FTSE 100 was up 18.06 points at 5,337.74 index, having closed down 45.99 points at 5,319.68, on Wednesday. AstraZeneca was the star performer on the blue chip index, rising 5.0 percent after the drugmaker doubled its 2010 share buyback programme, posted strong results and won an endorsement from a U.S. advisory panel for its potential blockbuster heart drug Brilinta. The goodwill spread to Astra's peers, with GlaxoSmithKline and Shire each adding 0.5 percent. The FTSE is back on the front foot after Wednesday's session pared gains over the previous week but traders warned investor caution could see this rally short-lived. "We are not really seeing the market break new highs despite some decent corporate results. We have been here before and retraced quite sharply," said Geoff Wilkinson, head of research at Mint. "We think the world is a safer place but we are not willing to take any risks yet." The defence sector enjoyed a bullish start to the session as the market consumed a hefty wedge of firm corporate figures. Rolls Royce was a top gainer, up 2.4 percent as the engine and turbine maker reported a stronger than expected rise in first-half profit and raised its full-year forecasts. Europe's largest defence contractor BAE Systems climbed 2.3 percent after posting a 14 percent rise in first-half earnings and said it expected to deliver growth in the full year. Aerospace electronics group Cobham added 1.2 percent as it said it secured a prime contract to provide infrastructure and deployment services to the U.S. missile defence agency. Elsewhere, professional publishing and events group Reed Elsevier was 3.0 percent higher as it said underlying revenues grew 1 percent in the first half, beating expectations, as advertising and promotion markets appeared to be stabilising. HEADING SOUTH The energy sector was again down in the dumps, extending the previous session's falls as Royal Dutch Shell, fell 0.2 percent after reporting results. Peer BP shed 0.5 percent. The oil major may permanently shut the well that caused the worst off-shore oil spill in U.S. history as early as Monday, as speculation also grew over the assets it might sell to cover mounting costs. BG, whose results disappointed investors on Wednesday, was 0.9 percent lower. Elsewhere on the downside, Rexam shed 3.2 percent, making them the top FTSE 100 faller, after Credit Suisse cut its rating for the drinks cans maker to "neutral" from "outperform" following the firm's first-half results on Wednesday. BSkyB, which is considering a proposed takeover from its largest shareholder News Corp, was down 0.6 percent as it reported fourth-quarter figures and said full-year results would be in line with forecasts. The world's second-biggest cigarette maker British American Tobacco Plc dropped 1.1 percent after Morgan Stanley cut its recommendation to "equalweight" from "overweight" after Wednesday's results.
