The FTSE edged slightly higher this morning, buoyed by upbeat earnings announcements from AstraZeneca and BAE Systems.
By 8.45am the benchmark was 10.4 points, or 0.2%, higher at 5,330.03.
The rise was mirrored by the Germans Dax index, up 0.09%, and France's Cac 40, up 0.04%.
AstraZeneca led London's risers, gaining 4.5% to £33.46 after reporting second quarter net income of $2.11bn, beating expectations.
Britain's second largest pharma company was aided by sales of Crestor for cholesterol and Seroquel for psychosis. It has announced a doubling of its share buyback program to $2bn, and raised its full year forecast.
Meanwhile, BAE Systems was sent 2.7% higher to 325.7p after returning to profit in the first half. It made £618m over the period, helped by contracts in emerging markets, compared to a £82m loss a year earlier.
Rival Rolls Royce's shares also rose, by 1.9% to 598.5p, despite reporting a first half loss of £334m, compared with a £1.86bn profit a year ago. Its recent loss was lower than expected.
First half pre-tax profits of £144m at Rexam might have beaten analysts' expectations, but a downgrade to ‘neutral' from ‘outperform' by Credit Suisse sent its equities down 2.6% to 319.2p.
Similarly, analysts at J.P. Morgan say second quarter revenue of $150.3m at ARM Holdings was about 9% above consensus predictions, but still "not really enough". Its shares fell 0.8% to 333p on the downbeat assessment.
Meanwhile, an HSBC downgrade of Severn Trent forced its shares 1% lower to £12.72.
In the US overnight the Dow Jones closed 0.4% lower at 10.497.88 points, ending its four-day winning streak. It fell slightly on the news the Federal Reserve's Beige Book survey of regional manufacturing signalled activity levelled off in about half the country.
Among major movers in the US was Boeing, which saw its shares fall 1.9% to $67.32 after profits beat expectations but revenue missed forecasts, while CB Richard Ellis rose 7.6% to $16.58 after posting its best revenue growth since 2007.
In Asia, Japan's Nikkei 225 index was down 0.6% at 9,696.02 points, while the Hang Seng was flat at 21,079.27 points.
