Britain's top share index was up 0.2 percent in early trade on Thursday as investors paused after hefty gains earlier in the week, while Diageo fell after it cut its profit target.
By 0817 GMT, the benchmark FTSE 100 was up 10.91 points at 4,901.49 in a choppy opening session, after closing 26.22 points lower at 4,880.58 on Wednesday.
Strength in oil majors provided support as crude prices steadied, with Royal Dutch Shell, BG Group, Tullow Oil, and Cairn Energy up 0.3 to 0.9 percent.
Drugmakers were also higher, led by a 1.4 percent rise in GlaxoSmithKline, while AstraZeneca put on 1 percent. Danish biotech firm Genmab said late on Wednesday that it got positive top-line results from a phase II study of its Arzerra cancer drug, co-developed with GlaxoSmithKline.
The FTSE has rallied by 42 percent since hitting an all-time low in March and has so far rebounded 10 percent this year thanks to brightening economic data and improving corporate earnings.
Analysts, however, said September could see a period of consolidation on the index after low trading volumes during the summer holiday period.
"There is not much news out this week that is driving the index. It is just sitting on its hands. At the moment it is pretty directionless," said Philip Gillet, sales trader at IG Index.
"The consensus is that in September volumes will increase and we may well see a correction but whether that happens is yet to be seen," he said.
Heavyweight mining stocks were lower, with Anglo American, BHP Billiton, Lonmin and Rio Tinto falling between 0.1 and 1.6 percent.
Losses in other miners were offset by a 3.7 percent gain in Kazakhmys after the copper producer posted a better-than-expected 28 percent fall in first-half earnings per share, and said it will beat its full-year output target..
Banks were mixed. Barclays and Royal Bank of Scotland rose 1.3 and 1 percent while Lloyds Banking Group fell 0.3 percent.
The lender is hoping to reduce its use of the government's insurance scheme for toxic assets by offering investors a new form of interest-paying capital instrument which could be converted into ordinary shares, the Times reported.
Among other fallers, Diageo, the world's biggest spirits group, fell 3 percent as it cut its profit target this year due to concerns about the strength of any recovery.
British oil services and engineering group Amec lost 6 percent. The company reported a 25 percent increase in first-half profit and said it was on track to meet its EBITDA margin goal of 8.5 percent for 2010.
UK HOUSING PICKS UP
In a sign of the pick up in the housing market, British house prices rose for the fourth month running and at their fastest monthly rate in 2-1/2 years in August, the Nationwide Building Society said.
The mortgage lender said house prices rose 1.6 percent this month after a 1.4 percent rise in July. This took the annual rate of decline down to 2.7 percent — its smallest fall since April 2008 — and leaving the average price of a home at 160,224 pounds.
The second reading of U.S. Q2 GDP is due at 1230 GMT, with economists predicting a 1.5 percent contraction after the economy shrank 1 percent in the second quarter on an annualised basis on the first reading.
Other economic data for Thursday include the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) distributive trade figures for August at 1000 GMT and U.S. jobless claims at 1230 GMT.
