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The FTSE 100 continued to struggle for direction by midday as it stayed flat, just ahead of the 7,200 mark. UK Covid cases continue to increase while speculation about a looming interest rate rise builds.
Mining giant BHP added 0.7% to £20.02 even after a driver shortage in Australia hurt its first-quarter iron ore output, while planned maintenance at the Olympic Dam pit there weighed on copper production.
BHP nevertheless stuck to its production and unit-cost guidance for the full year.
Home builder Bellway firmed 4.1% to $34.89, having more than doubled its full-year dividend after a resurgence in housing construction boosted pre-tax profits to £479 million.
Bellway declared a dividend of 117.5p per share, up from 50p year-on-year.
Refractory products provider RHI Magnesita rose 3.6% to £30.60, even as it warned it could miss earnings guidance after cost pressures and the temporary closure of an Austrian facility weighed in its third-quarter.
RHI Magnesita said its full-year earnings before interest, tax and amortisation could come in between €280 million and €310 million, compared to previous guidance of €310 million, with the outcome depending on how well it can pass through cost hikes to customers.
Elsewhere in the mining sector, Hochschild Mining climbed 5.4% to 150.48p, having unveiled plans to de-merge its Chile-focused rare earths unit Aclara Resources and list it in Toronto.
Hochschild's stake in Aclara would fall to 20% from 80% post demerger.
Rio Tinto gained 1.1% to £50.5822 after announcing that strategy head Peter Toth was leaving the company to accept a position elsewhere.
Toth had stepped down from the company's executive committee with immediate effect and his responsibilities would be divided between current executives.
Online betting group 888 dropped 2.3% to 406.54p despite it reporting a 7% rise in the third-quarter revenue as strength in its gaming division offset a decline in betting activity.
888 also warned of $10 million hit from its decision to cease operations in the Netherlands following policy changes there.
Price comparison group Moneysupermarket.com rallied 4.5% to 212.2p as its third-quarter revenue fell 10%, but it stuck to earnings guidance citing resilient margins.
Moneysupermarket also announced that it had acquired Maple Syrup Media, trading as Quidco, a consumer cashback business, for up to £101 million.
Defence contractor Meggitt shed 0.2% to 748p on noting that the UK government was probing its planned acquisition by Parker-Hannifin on national security grounds.
Meggitt said it still expected the acquisition to be complete in the third quarter of 2022.
Foreign exchange group Wise firmed 1.8% to 938.2p as it reported a 25% rise in second-quarter revenue amid a surge in transaction volumes.
Wise also upgraded its annual gross margin guidance to around 65-67%.
Enterprise software group Oxford Metrics rose 1.8% to 112.45p on guiding for a higher annual profit as business bounces back following an easing of lockdowns.
Oxford Metrics's adjusted pre-tax profit for the year through September was seen rising to £4.6 million, up from the £2.6 million year-on-year.
Cleaning products group McBride sank 8.4% to 63.6p, having warned that it would report a first-half loss, as supply-chain pressures force it to push through price increases to customers.
Operating losses for the six months through December were now expected to be up £10 million, McBride said, while reiterating it expected its annual result to be second-half weighted.