The FTSE 100 declined 0.4% in morning trade.
Financial Times publisher Pearson (LON:PSON) led the blue chips with a 6% surge after reporting that 2010 operating profits are expected to post a headline increase of 20%, while adjusted earnings will be at 76 pence, ahead of the pervious guidance of 72 pence per share.
Consumer goods company Unilever (LON:ULVR) followed, climbing 1.7%. Food company Associated British Foods (LON:ABF) advanced 1.2%.
Pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline (LON:GSK) and Essar Energy (LON:ESSR) added 1%.
Mining major African Barrick Gold (LON:ABG) and Imperial Tobacco Group (LON:IMT) were at the bottom of the pile with losses of nearly 3%.
Engineering company GKN (LON:GKN) and bank Barclays (LON:BARC) shed just over 2%.
In the US, futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) and S&P 500 index rose marginally.
The DJIA and the technology heavy NASDAQ composite advanced 0.4% yesterday.
The S&P 500 index rose 0.15%.
Apple (NYSE:AAPL) beat analyst expectations with its quarterly report that was released after the markets closed yesterday. The company reported that iPhone sales in the three months to the end of December jumped 86% year on year, while Mac sales climbed 23%.
IBM (NYSE:IBM) also did well, posting a 9% rise in net income to US$5.26 billion and a 6% increase in revenues to US$29.02 billion, which was ahead of expectations.
All eyes are now on Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS), which is set to report its Q4 results today.