The FTSE 100 stood 0.55% above the opening level in early afternoon with energy and utility companies leading the way.
Oil and gas service company Petrofac (LON:PFC) led the blue chips with a 2.4% gain.
Royal Bank of Scotland (LON:RBS) and Essar Energy (LON:ESSR) followed, tacking on nearly 2%.
National Grid (LON:NG) and beverage group Diageo (LON:DGE) added 1.7%, as did engineering company Invensys (LON:ISYS).
Telecom group BT (LON:BT.A) and RSA Insurance Group (LON:RSA) rose 1.5%.
Clothing retailers Next (LON:NXT) and Marks & Spencer (LON:MKS), software developer Autonomy Corporation (LON:AU) and airline British Airways (LON:BAY) shed just over 1%.
Shares in british Airways were hit by the cancellation of numerous flights due to severe weather.
Elsewhere in Europe, Spain’s IBEX 35 advanced 1.35%, France’s CAC 40 climbed 1.1% and Germany’s DAX rose 1%.
Asian markets were in selling mode today.
China’s Shanghai Composite Index slipped 1.4%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng and South Korea’s KOSPI shed 0.3% and Japan’s Nikkei 225 slipped 0.85%.
In the US on Friday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average declined marginally. The S&P 500 index tacked on 0.1% and the NASDAQ composite rose 0.2%.
Marshall & Ilsley Corp (NYSE:MI) was the top performer in the S&P 500 index with a 18.3% surge.
Allegheny Technologies (NYSE:ATI) and Titanium Metals (NYSE:TIE) added 6.8% and 6.2% respectively.
AK Steel Holdings (NYSE:AK) and Boston Scientific Corp (NYSE:BSX) climbed 6%.
Sara Lee Corp (NYSE:SLE) gained 5.3%.
Expeditors Intl of Washington (NYSE:EXPD), Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) and Vulcan Materials (NYSE:VMC) moved in the opposite direction, shedding nearly 3%.
Forest Laboratories (NYSE:FRX) and eBay (NYSE:EBAY) lost 2.6% and 2.3% respectively.
The Dow Jones, S&P 500 and NASDAQ indexes are expected to open with gains of up to 0.5% today.