The FTSE 100 retreated to the opening level, falling to 5,881 by mid afternoon.
The FTSE 250 added 4 points, rising to 11,609, while the FTSE AIM 100 index climbed 33 points (0.8%) to 4,114.
Consumer goods company Reckitt Benckiser (LON:RB) advanced 3.2%. Engineering companies Invensys (LON:ISYS) and GKN (LON:GKN) tacked on 2.8% and 2.6% respectively.
Insurance focused investor Resolution (LON:RSL), software developer Autonomy Corporation (LON:AU) and ITV (LON:ITV) were at the bottom of the pile with losses of over 2%.
Oil & gas
BP (LON:BP), BG Group (LON:BG) and Tullow Oil (LON:TLW) posted small losses, while Shell (LON:RDSB) rose marginally.
Engineering company Petrofac (LON:PFC) advanced 1.3%.
Salamander Energy (LON:SMDR) led the midcaps, climbing 2.6%. JKX Oil & Gas (LON:JKX) added 1.1%. Melrose Resources (LON:MRS) moved in the opposite direction, shedding 2%.
Mongolia operating Petro Matad (LON:MATD) was among the top risers in the sector, climbing 9.5%.
US focused Nighthawk Energy (LON:HAWK) followed with a 6.5% gain.
Mining
Precious metals
Miners were on the rise today.
African Barrick Gold (LON:ABG) rallied 3%, while fellow gold producer Randgold Resources (LON:RRS) advanced 1%.
Lonmin (LON:LMI) and Fresnillo (LON:FRES) added 1.3%.
In the FTSE 250, Aquarius Platinum (LON:AQP) advanced 1.4%.
Central America focused gold and silver explorer Condor Resources (LON:CNR) was among the top performing small caps, climbing 14%. Turkey focused gold explorer and developer Ariana Resources (LON:AAU) advanced 10%.
Australia operating gold explorer GGG Resources (LON:GGG) also did well, advancing 6.2%.
Base metals
Most base metal miners declined.
Xstrata (LON:XTA) and Eurasian Natural Resources (LON:ENRC) shed just over 1% and BHP Billiton (LON:BLT) dipped 1%.
Kazakhmys (LON:KAZ) bucked the trend, climbing 1%.
Banks, insurance, private equity
Barclays (LON:BARC) declined 1.1%. Royal Bank of Scotland (LON:RBS) and Standard Chartered (LON:STAN) did better, posting small gains.
Not much was going on in the insurance sector today. Legal & General (LON:LGEN) declined 1%. Old Mutual (LON:OML) and Prudential (LON:PRU) declined marginally.
Gold and base metals focused Thor Mining (LON:THR) and Botsawana operating copper and nickel miner Discovery Metals (LON:DME) performed very well today, climbing 10%.
Coal miner Churchill Mining (LON:CHL) tacked on 7%.
Small caps movers
Other notable movers among the small caps included Firestone Diamonds (LON:FDI) and Urals Energy (LON:UEN), which rallied 7% and 9% respectively.