Britain’s top share index steadied near a record high on Thursday, with a rally in insurers after positive results offsetting weakness in companies trading without the attraction of their latest dividend payout.

Rio Tinto, CRH, HSBC and RSA fell 1.1 to 3.4 per cent as they traded ex-dividend.

The blue-chip FTSE 100 index was up 0.1 per cent at 6,927.04 points by 0856 GMT, not far from a record peak of 6,974.26 points set earlier this month.

Insurer Aviva rose 4.8 per cent, the top gainer in the FTSE 100 index, after reporting a 6 per cent rise in 2014 operating profit.

“The results are both broadly pleasing and in stark contrast to the travails of recent years, most notably the financial crisis and subsequent dividend cut in 2013,’’ Richard Hunter, head of equities at Hargreaves Lansdown Stockbrokers, said.

“The key metrics show significant improvement, including the operating profit, earnings per share, reduction in costs and a growth spurt in the likes of Poland and Asia where the value of new business increased by some 25 per cent.’’

Friends Life rose 4.4 per cent after saying its operating profit before tax rose 38 per cent to 556 million pounds ($847.51 million) in 2014 from a year earlier.

Among other sharp movers, British broadcaster ITV extended gains on the back of several broker upgrades, a day after announcing on Wednesday the return of cash to shareholders following strong international growth.

ITV shares gained 3.6 per cent after HSBC, Goldman Sachs, Berenberg, JPMorgan, Nomura and Exane all raised their target prices for the stock. Goldman also added the company to its “conviction list’’.

However, miners faced some selling pressure after China, the world’s biggest metals consumer, lowered its economic growth target for 2015 to around 7.0 per cent from 7.5 per cent in 2014. BHP Billiton, Anglo American and Antofagasta fell 0.8 to 1.3 per cent.

Investors awaited a meeting of the European Central Bank, which will start a bond-buying programme worth more than €1 trillion this month. The bank is expected to provide more details later in the day.

The Bank of England also holds a meeting later in the day.

“Nothing of significance is anticipated from today’s MPC (BoE's Monetary Policy Committee) meeting, so investors are reluctant to push that index any higher,’’ John Smith, senior fund manager at Brown Shipley, said.

($1 = 0.6560 pounds)

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