Britain's top shares rose by midday on Thursday, with commodity stock weakness outpaced by gains in defensives, led by drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline after U.S. authorities recommended approval of its Potiga epilepsy drug.
By 1113 GMT, the FTSE 100 was up 20.55 points or 0.4% at 5,265.76, having hit its lowest close in three weeks on Wednesday when it fell 2.4% to 5,245.21.
Trade was choppy, however, as investors remained wary of the wider economic malaise, with the index fluctuating between a high of 5,271.22 and a low of 5,224.16
"Investors remain deeply cautious about the short-term prospects for the markets and for the global economy after the revised outlook from central banks in UK and across the water," said Giles Watts, head of equities at City Index.
Miners fell as base metal prices remained in the doldrums on worries over the outlook for demand.
Eurasian Natural Resources dropped 2.1%, but precious metal miners Rangold Resources and African Barrick Gold rose 0.8 and 1.0%, respectively, in line with strength in gold on investor safe-haven buying.
India-focused mining group Vedanta Resources fell 3.7% on news it was in talks to buy assets or take a multibillion-dollar equity stake in British oil and gas exploration company Cairn Energy.
Cairn Energy gained 0.8% but other energy related stocks fell as demand for crude tailed off. BP and Royal Dutch Shell each shed 0.2%.
GLAXO GAINS
GlaxoSmithKline added 1.5% after U.S. advisers recommended approval of Potiga, a new epilepsy drug developed with Valeant Pharmaceuticals.
Dominic Valder, an analyst with Evolution Securities, said the product itself, with potential peak annual sales of $500 mln, is not significant enough to change Glaxo's investment thesis, but the success emphasises Glaxo is passing its patent cliff and returning to growth.
Glaxo peer AstraZeneca rose 0.7%, while consumer goods group Unilever climbed 1.4% and British American Tobacco rose 1.0%.
Highlighting uncertainty among investors, insurers were mixed, with Prudential up 1.1% after it reported forecast-beating half-year profit.
Old Mutual, however, was among the worst performers on the FTSE 100, down 1.2% after Goldman Sachs cuts its rating on the stock, citing weakness in the South African economy.
Vodafone was a strong performer, up 2.5% as it clawed back losses from the previous session.
In terms of valuations, the UK benchmark carried a one-year forward price-to-earnings of 10.65 versus a 10-year average of 14.98, DataStream showed.
The FTSE 100 is looking cheaper than Germany's DAX and the U.S. S&P 500, which had a one-year forward P/E of 11.22 and 13.21, respectively.
Investors will watch out for July's U.S. import price index and weekly U.S. jobless figures, which are both due for release at 1230 GMT, for further clues on the health of the world's largest economy.
