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London - Strength in miners kept Britain's top share index in positive territory at midday on Tuesday after supportive data overnight from China.
Lingering geopolitcal concerns and inflation worries saw many stocks pare early gains with banks and retailers among the top fallers.
At 1149 GMT, the FTSE 100 was 2.18 points higher at 5 996.19. The index fell 1.3% last week as tensions in the Middle East and North Africa saw oil prices soar, threatening global economic recovery.
"There remains uncertainty which is preventing this market from pushing on," Jimmy Yates, head of equities at CMC Markets, said.
"Fund managers are shuffling their portfolios out of riskier assets for the time being and, given the weighting of the FTSE towards commodity-driven assets and banks, that is stunting progress."
Miners, which have fallen early in 2011 on worries over inflation in emerging markets and dented by political tensions in the Middle East, bobbed higher.
Chinese manufacturing data showed growth slowed in February, helping dampen fears about China's economy overheating and the need for further monetary tightening in the world's major commodity consumer.
"The China data provides some support for miners, though overall the picture remains mixed," Mic Mills, head of electronic dealing at ETX Capital, said.
Energy stocks were mixed. Crude prices held above $112 per barrel, although off multi-year highs, on supply worries as unrest continued in Libya and the Middle East.
Traders said the session's slightly more bullish tone among investors was underpinned by comments from Warren Buffett, chairman of investment firm Berkshire Hathaway, which suggested stocks may be cheap.
HSBC woes
Banks were weaker with heavyweight HSBC down 2.4% percent as both Deutsche Bank and UBS downgraded ratings for the global lender following Monday's results disappointment.
Home improvement retailer Kingfisher was the top FTSE 100 faller, down 4.6% as Societe Generale cut its rating to "sell", saying in a note: "It is time to worry about B&Q in the UK as it begins to face more severe consumer headwinds".
Clothing retailers Marks & Spencer and Next fell 2.3% and 1.7% respectively, hit again by Monday's cautious trading news from high street Primark, owned by AB Foods.
AB foods, however, rallied 3.8% as Evolution upgraded its rating on the Primark owner to "buy" from "neutral".
British outsourcing group Capita was the top riser, up 4.8% after saying it was in talks with Zurich Financial Services about an extension of the term of Capita's existing contract, dragging peer Serco, up 2.4%, with it.
Wolseley, the world's largest plumbers and builders merchant, added 2.2% after Irish building materials group CRH reported stabilisation in the past three months.
There were upbeat signs on the local economy. In February, house prices in Britain rose, while manufacturing growth held at a record level.
US stock index futures pointed to a higher open on Wall Street on Tuesday ahead of the testimony by Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, starting at 1500 GMT. Britain's United Business Media fell 10.5% after results, which prompted Numis to cut its earnings forecasts and target price.
