The FTSE 100 closed 7.64 points higher at 5,710.66 after falling 0.4 percent on Friday. The index has gained more than 12 percent since its year-low on Feb. 8.
"Leading shares have traded sideways after an initial buoyant start," said Jimmy Yates, head of equities at CMC Markets.
"We will see more of the same lacklustre trading as we head into this slightly shorter week for UK markets ahead of the Easter break." Miners were the top gainers on the index, with Rio Tinto, Xstrata, Lonmin, Kazakhmys and BHP Billiton rising between 1.2 and 3.2 percent.
Mobile phone giant Vodafone was the top gainer, up 3 percent, supported by a report in the Sunday Telegraph that it is in discussions with US counterpart Verizon Communications over a possible dividend payment from Verizon Wireless, a US mobile phone joint venture between the two companies.
A spokesman for Vodafone declined to comment on any recent talks between the two firms.
Selected defensive stocks like tobacco companies, supermarkets, utilities and beverage producers were on the front foot, helped by investor uncertainty about whether the rally in the market can be sustained.
British American Tobacco, SABMiller, Tesco and United Utilities added 0.2 to 1.7 percent.
BANKS WANE Banks, which have been at the forefront of the recent rally, retreated. State-backed Lloyds Banking Group and Royal Bank of Scotland fell 1.3 and 1.8 percent respectively.
In the United States, Citigroup fell 2.6 percent as the US Treasury pledged to sell all of its 7.7 billion Citigroup common shares in 2010, signalling a wind-down of the banking giant's bailout at a potential profit for the government.
Energy shares were also under pressure. BG Group, BP and Royal Dutch Shell shed 0.4 to 0.7 percent.
Pharmaceuticals stocks were weaker. GlaxoSmithKline and AstraZeneca were down 0.3 and 0.5 percent respectively, giving back some recent gains.
Satellite broadcaster BSkyB fell 1.9 percent as UBS cut its rating on the stock to "neutral" from "buy" citing valuation grounds, and ahead of regulator Ofcom's pay-TV review, expected on Tuesday.
Shares in small-cap Antisoma fell as much as 75 percent to an all-time low of 9 pence after the drugs company halted a late-stage trial of its lead prospect lung cancer drug ASA404 due to a lack of efficacy.
Cable & Wireless Communications fell 1.3 percent after Nomura cut the company's rating to "reduce" from "buy" following Friday's demerger of Cable & Wireless Worldwide. C&W Communications will be demoted to the FTSE 250 index from April 30.
Also on the demerger front, mid-cap Carphone Warehouse added 7.3 percent after it spun off its TalkTalk unit. TalkTalk added 4.4 percent.
