Vodafone and Pearson lead Britain's FTSE higher

* FTSE 100 up 0.4 pct

* Pearson (Xetra: 858266 - news) jumps 3.3 pct

* Vodafone gains on return to growth

By Liisa Tuhkanen

LONDON, July 24 (Reuters) - Britain's top share index edged higher on Friday, in line with euro zone equities, boosted by positively received corporate updates from several companies, including Vodafone and Pearson.

The blue-chip FTSE 100 index was up 0.4 percent at 6,680.08 points by 0842 GMT. It closed 0.2 percent lower in the previous session.

"It's pretty much driven by company results," said Richard Hunter, head of equities at Hargreaves Lansdown Stockbrokers.

"We're looking to see how the results are feeding through on the ground as opposed to all the macroeconomic data we've tended to be concentrating on leading up to the second quarter reporting season."

Pearson, the group selling the Financial Times in a $1.3 billion deal, topped the gainers with a 3.3 percent jump after increasing its dividend and confirming guidance.

Vodafone also rose more than 3 percent after reporting an acceleration in its main quarterly sales growth as a cable TV acquisition in its biggest market Germany lifted sales and consolidated the overall return to growth for the world's second-largest mobile operator.

And miner Anglo American (LSE: AAL.L - news) edged 0.8 percent higher despite a rout in metal prices and a profit warning earlier this month as it surprised the markets by maintaining its interim dividend.

On the downside, Diageo (LSE: DGE.L - news) dropped 2 percent after the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission announced an investigation into whether the liquor company has been shipping excess inventory to distributors to boost its results.

In other fallers, Aberdeen Asset Management (Other OTC: ABDNF - news) , which was hit by outflows and tumbled 7.6 percent to its lowest levels in over a year on Thursday, shed another 1.4 percent on Friday after target price cuts from several investment banks. (Reporting by Liisa Tuhkanen; Editing by Toby Chopra)