In London on Friday the FTSE 100 was 0.28 percent higher to 6,716.7 and the FTSE 250 gained 0.96 percent to 11,922.9.
Miners declined after Thursday’s gains, with Rio Tinto (LSE: RIO) seeing the biggest loss of the day on the 100, dropping 2.1 percent to £37.30.
Elsewhere in the sector, BHP Billiton (LSE: BLT; ASX: BHP; NYSE: BHP) was 1.74 percent lower to £15.27 and Lonmin (LSE: LMI) fell 0.66 percent to £42.78.
Financial services-related shares did better.
Standard Chartered (LSE: STAN; SEHK: 2888) had the best day on the 100 as it added 2.92 percent to £16.90, while asset manager Henderson Group (LSE: HGI; ASX: HGI) gained 7.95 percent to 176.5p on the 250 for the best performance of the day there.
Hedge fund manager Man Group (LSE: EMG) was 2.76 percent higher to 633.5p.
Another asset manager, Bluebay (LSE: BBAX), however, had the poorest performance of the day on the 250 as it dropped 3.35 percent to 455p.
Other gainers on the day included business services group Experian (LSE: EXPN), which was 2.27 percent higher to 630p.
Chemicals group Johnson Matthey (LSE: JMAT) added 2.7 percent to £18.28, while in the oil sector BG Group gained 2.2 percent to 877.5p.
Decliners on the 100 included engineers Smiths Group (LSE: SMIN), which dropped 1.23 percent to £11.28 and Home Retail (LSE: HOME), down 1.37 percent to 450.25p.