Lamprell rises as traders bet on recovery "We retain our 'hold" recommendation given the still limited operational visibility, but the fact that Lamprell is now in a position to take on new jackup orders gives us some confidence that it is on the road to recovery," they said. In the wider market, the FTSE 100 had a more volatile session, rising as high as 6,321.45 before worries over Europe sent the index into reverse. The blue-chips managed to close up 12.58 points at 6,295.34 and the mid-cap FTSE 250 finished 98.83 better at 13,341.60. It was a good day for asset managers, with Hargreaves Lansdown topping the main board as it put on 82½ - 11.2pc - to 817p, a record high, after releasing strong first-half results. Schroders added 56p to £19.99 on an upgrade to "overweight" at Morgan Stanley. On the FTSE 250, hedge fund manager Man Group was a strong riser after a bullish assessment from analysts at UBS. Experts at the broker argued that in the wake of the appointment of Manny Roman as chief executive in December, the troubled company could reveal "material strategic changes" at its full-year results on February 28. There have been bid rumours around Man in recent months, and the UBS analysts said that "a sale of the company remains a possibility" in the long-term. Adding the hedge fund firm to their list of most-preferred stocks, Man advanced 4.35 to 95.1p. Elsewhere among financial shares, mid-cap inter-dealer broker ICAP gained for a second day and closed 18.1 better off at 356.9p. The group was bolstered on Tuesday by new figures showing an increase in volumes on its electronic foreign exchange and fixed-income broking platforms, and today the shares were in demand ahead of the company's trading update tomorrow. Investors hoping peer Tullett Prebon will see a similar pick-up in business helped the shares 20.9 higher to 272½p, the biggest FTSE 250 riser, while financial spread-better IG Group added 30.8 to 497.3p, with a "buy" note from Numis also giving the shares a lift. Back on the blue-chip index, an encouraging production update from Kazakhstan-focused miner Eurasian Natural Resources Corporation boosted the shares rise 31.4 to 375.6p. The company, which was the subject of rehashed bid speculation on Tuesday, said output of ferroalloys and iron ore increased over the fourth quarter. Among the second-liners, FTSE 250-listed Playtech edged up 0.9 to 481½p, receiving a push from Deutsche Bank analysts ahead of the online gambling software group's fourth-quarter update tomorrow. Experts at the broker boosted their target price to 550p from 470p, forecasting that the company will post core revenue growth of 16pc. Suffering the heaviest fall on the mid-cap index was gold producer Centamin, with the group's legal troubles in Egypt, where its Sukari mine is located, once again weighing on the stock. A court ruled in October that Centamin's right to dig at the mine was invalid, but investors pushed the shares higher earlier this week on hopes an appeal hearing would resolve the matter. News that the appeal, scheduled for today, had been delayed was therefore disappointing, and Centamin retreated 2.95 to 59.6p. Lower down the scale, investors in oil and gas group RusPetro took fright after a key bond sale failed to get off the ground. The western Siberia-focused company was seeking to raise as much as $350m from the debt offering to pay off a loan, and news of the postponement of the sale saw RusPetro shares tumble 8 - or 15.7pc - to 43p. Also among the fallers was Wolfson Microelectronics, which released full-year results. Despite a 15pc rise in revenues and narrowed loss, the shares slipped 12¾ to 185¼p on disappointment with a fall in gross margins. Putting in a strong performance, however, was small-cap nanotechnology group Nanoco, which gained 10¾ to 175½p on the appointment of two new business development executives. Shares in the company surged last month on news of a "transformational" licensing agreement with a Dow Chemicals subsidiary, and Margaret Hines, one of the new hires, will work with Dow in the US. Indeed, since the announcement of that deal, management have been in the Square Mile meeting with investors.