The FTSE 100 was flat at 7,422.88 at 1530 BST.
Leading the risers was educational publisher Pearson after the company lifted its dividend and interim profits jumped.
The firm reported pretax profit of £179m for the six months to June 30, from £4m a year earlier, when it booked £85m in restructuring costs a year earlier. Revenue rose 12% year-on-year to £1.79bn and the dividend rose 4.8% to 6.6p a share.
Asia-focused bank HSBC was also a gainer after better-than-expected profits and a pledge to restore dividends next year.
The banking giant posted a pre-tax profit of $9.17bn, down more than 15% year-on-year, despite reporting a modest 2% uptick in interim revenues to $12.8bn.
FTSE 100 – Risers
Pearson (PSON) 842.60p 11.37%
HSBC Holdings (HSBA) 548.90p 6.85%
Ocado Group (OCDO) 872.80p 3.98%
BAE Systems (BA.) 792.60p 2.94%
Avast (AVST) 476.40p 2.45%
Centrica (CNA) 89.78p 2.37%
NATWEST GROUP PLC ORD 100P (NWG) 254.10p 2.21%
Standard Chartered (STAN) 576.20p 2.13%
Berkeley Group Holdings (The) (BKG) 4,321.00p 1.96%
Rightmove (RMV) 651.40p 1.84%
FTSE 100 – Fallers
Melrose Industries (MRO) 155.35p -3.24%
Anglo American (AAL) 2,864.50p -2.90%
Intertek Group (ITRK) 4,250.00p -2.88%
BP (BP.) 392.70p -1.83%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 1,138.00p -1.77%
GSK (GSK) 1,697.40p -1.75%
Shell (SHEL) 2,141.00p -1.74%
Fresnillo (FRES) 725.00p -1.68%
Prudential (PRU) 989.40p -1.65%
Harbour Energy (HBR) 360.40p -1.58%
