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After opening higher on Wednesday buoyed by positive corporate trading updates from the likes of SSE, Serco and Boohoo, stocks gave back most of the gains to close only slightly in positive territory.
At 16:30, the benchmark FTSE 100 index was up 0.2%, at 6,254.
Outsourced services provider Serco jumped 16% to 155p on guiding for a rise in first-half underlying trading profit of about 50%, amid 'limited' impacts from the Covid-19 crisis.
Serco also reinstated guidance for the full year that included upgraded revenue expectations.
Energy utility SSE sparked 9% higher to £13.8, after it reported better than expected adjusted operating profits, up 37% to £1.5bn.
SSE recommended a final dividend of 56p per share, making the full-year 80p per share and said it was continuing to target delivery of its five-year dividend plan, running from the 2019 to the 2023 financial years.
DIY group Kingfisher gained 6.7% to 217p even as it booked 66% slump in annual profit amid a continued poor showing from its French business.
Kingfisher also said its performance had improved in May following a slump in April as it gradually reopened shuttered stores in the UK and France.
Online fashion retailer Boohoo rallied 6% to 413p as it forecast its annual performance to beat market expectations following a jump in first-quarter revenue.
Also making news, home builder Berkeley rose 4.4% to £44, despite announcing that its annual profit fell by more than a third as it sold fewer homes in a declining price environment.
Berkeley said it entered the coming year from a position of relative strength, with net cash of £1.14bn and forward sales of £1.9bn.
Banknote printer De La Rue rose 4% to 159p, as it reported a rise in profit as lower costs and a gain on the sale of its international identity solutions business offset a fall in revenue.
Infrastructure products supplier Hill & Smith traded 2.5% higher to £13.3 on announcing that it had seen a 'modest recovery' in performance in May as lockdown measures eased.
The company, however, stressed it remained cautious given market uncertainty.
Structural steel group Severfield dropped 1% to 73p, after posting a 4.5% rise in annual profit. The company has suspended dividends until it gets more clarity on the impact of Covid-19.
Gambling company William Hill fell 5% to 132p after it raised £224m of new equity rato bolster its balance sheet at 128p a share.
Putting downward pressure on the market was pizza delivery group Domino's Pizza, which slumped 6% to 319p.
Domino's guided for a slight fall in first-half operating profit despite people ordering more pizzas during lockdown, citing higher costs needed to keep people safe from Covid-19.