Easyjet shares soared after an investor bonus worth £175 million helped the budget airline defy turbulence in the sector.
The blue-chip stock climbed 7% in a session when markets suffered a hangover from the flurry of Wall Street records seen on Monday.
The FTSE 100 Index was down 25.4 points at 6698 after a late sell-off in New York set a downbeat tone for Asia and Europe.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was back in positive territory by the close in London, though still shy of the 16,000 level it had topped before the fall at the end of the previous session.
But European markets echoed the negative mood in London, with Germany's Dax seeing a similar drop-off and France's Cac 40 down heavily.
In currency trading, sterling was flat against the greenback at 1.61 US dollars and against the single currency at 1.19 euros.
The risers board in London was dominated by easyJet as the Luton-based carrier continued to find favour with investors.
It revealed plans to hand a £175 million windfall to shareholders through a special dividend payment, while its profits surged to a new high of £478 million in the year to September 30, up from £317 million. With the update helping settle nerves following a recent profits warning from rival Ryanair, easyJet shares jumped 89p to 1345p.
Elsewhere in the top flight, a well-received trading update from ITV prompted a bout of profit taking. Shares were 2.1p lower at 184.7p, even though the broadcaster said its revenues grew 6% to £1.66 billion in the nine months to September 30.
Outside the top flight, bookmaker Ladbrokes was a faller in the FTSE 250 Index after its Dublin-based rival Paddy Power issued a profits warning due to a run of poor sporting results.
Paddy Power shares fell 8%, while Ladbrokes dropped 3.2p to 175p and William Hill eased 7.5p to 361.3p in the top flight.
Lloyds Banking Group shares fell 1.1p to 75.1p, although barring any major shocks its chief executive Antonio Horta-Osorio should still qualify for a £2.3 million bonus award at the end of trading today. Mr Horta-Osorio needs the stock to be above 73.6p but he will not be able to sell his bonus shares until 2018.
Shares in pub company Enterprise Inns rose 12% after it announced the retirement of founder and chief executive Ted Tuppen. He will be replaced by chief operating officer Simon Townsend. The company, which announced a smaller underlying profit of £121 million for the year to September 30, rose 16p to 154p.
The biggest FTSE 100 risers were easyJet, up 89p to 1345p, Randgold Resources up 89p to 4621p, Persimmon up 20p to 1185p and Amec up 17p to 1184p.
The biggest FTSE 100 fallers were Aberdeen Asset Management, down 14.5p to 475.2p, Anglo American down 38.5p to 1400p, Intertek down 79p to 3102p and International Airlines Group down 8.5p to 353.5p.
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