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Investment mood was improved early Monday, despite some weak economic data from China, while a rising pound was causing the FTSE 100 index to underperform other market measure.
Stocks in New York were called higher, with focus in the US turning to Tuesday's midterm elections.
In London, the large-cap FTSE 100 index traded 9.43 points, 0.1%, lower at 7,325.41 midday Monday. The mid-cap FTSE 250, however, was up 271.56 points, or 1.5% at 18,613.13, and the AIM All-Share was up 5.02 points, 0.6%, at 820.07.
The Cboe UK 100 was down 0.5% at 732.24, the Cboe UK 250 was up 1.5% at 16,044.82, and the Cboe Small Companies was up 0.2% at 12,475.39.
Stocks in mainland Europe were higher. The CAC 40 index in Paris was up 0.2%, while the DAX 40 in Frankfurt was 0.9% higher.
The pound was quoted at $1.1465 midday Monday in London, up from $1.1301 late Friday. The stronger pound held back the FTSE, which is stacked with international earners.
The euro traded at $0.9984 on Monday afternoon, higher than $0.9915 at the European equities close on Friday. Against the yen, the dollar was lower at JP¥146.52, down from JP¥147.16.
"Chinese officials denied plans to end the zero-Covid policy and after a brief wobble, risk assets have traded better," Bannockburn Global Forex analyst Marc Chandler commented.
On Saturday, China said that it will "unswervingly" stick to its zero-Covid policy. The doubling down had followed recent market optimism that Beijing would cast aside some of its economically damaging virus curbs.
Stocks largely shrugged off the news, however, and poor trade trade figures from China on Monday similarly failed to spark an equity market sell-off.
China's exports shrank in October, the first such decline since mid-2020, customs authorities said, as a domestic slowdown and the threat of global recession hit international trade.
Exports fell 0.3% year-on-year in October, according to the General Administration of Customs, a steep reversal from September's 5.7% increase and well below analysts' expectations.
It meant China's trade surplus widened to around $85.2 billion in October from $84.7 billion in September. However, this fell short of FXStreet cited consensus of $96.0 billion.
Stocks in New York were called solidly higher. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite all were called up 0.6%.
President Joe Biden pulled out the stops Sunday to mobilize US voters in defence of democracy, hoping to counter a Republican "red wave" in Tuesday's midterms that could set Donald Trump on a course back to the White House.
Polls in the final stretch put Republicans ahead in the fight for the House of Representatives, and also show them gaining momentum in key Senate races as voters seek to take out frustration over four-decades-high inflation and rising illegal immigration.
"Even if the Democrats maintain their majority in the Senate, a Republican majority in the House of Representatives will put an end to President Biden‘