Britain's top share index added 0.3 percent in early trade on Thursday, as strength in banks offset weakness in miners and oils, and investors awaited the latest pronouncements from the Bank of England.
At 0940 GMT, the FTSE 100 was up 1.26 points at 5,221.16, having closed 19.24 points lower at 5,203.89, its lowest closing level in more than a week.
"Markets are steadier after a late rally overnight on Wall Street, with banks adding strength, but the underlying mood remains uncertain awaiting the BoE decision and after yesterday's pre-Budget report," said Mic Mills, senior trader at ETX Capital.
Banks were the best performing sector, extending their bounce into a second session after a sell-off in the early part of the week on fresh worries over Dubai debt issues, lifted by some relief over the lack of a mooted windfall tax in Wednesday's pre-budget report.
Royal Bank of Scotland, HSBC, Lloyds Banking Group and Barclays climbed 0.8 to 2.3 percent.
Standard Chartered rose 0.7 percent aided by Goldman Sachs which raised its target price to 1,700 pence from 1,650 pence following the Asia-focused bank's trading update on Wednesday.
Oil majors, however, eased as crude held around $71 a barrel, still well off the year highs of around $80 a barrel seen in October.
Royal Dutch Shell shed 0.6 percent, BP 0.1 percent and Tullow Oil 1.1 percent.
Heavyweight miners were also a drag on the positive sentiment as copper prices beat a retreat, with Rio Tinto, Lonmin, Xstrata and BHP Billiton losing 0.2 to 1.0 percent.
BROKER MOVES HELP
Broker upgrades helped selected firms higher.
BSkyB climbed 1.7 percent after Cazenove raised its rating to "outperform" from "in-line".
Other media issues also rose, with Pearson up 0.3 percent and Reed Elsiver, upgraded by Deutsche Bank on Thursday, adding 0.1 percent.
Industrial property landlord Segro gained 0.6 percent, up for the second straight session, as broker UBS upgraded the industrial property landlord to "buy" from " neutral" and added the firm to its European Real Estate Most Preferred List.
BT rose 0.7 percent as Morgan Stanley upped its target price to 190 pence from 175 pence and kept its "overweight" rating.
Other defensive issues were also helped by some bargain hunting. Pharmaceutical behemoths AstraZeneca and GlaxoSmithKline gained 0.4 and 0.6 percent respectively, while British American Tobacco and Imperial Tobacco added 0.1 percent each.
No significant domestic data is due for release on Thursday, so all eyes will be on the Bank of England's deliberations, to be unveiled at midday, although no change is predicted to either interest rates or the central bank's quantitative easing policy.
After last week's much less that expected fall in U.S. non-farm payrolls, the latest U.S. initial weekly jobless claim numbers will be of interest this afternoon, as will October's U.S. international trade figures, both due at 1330 GMT.
