Britain's leading share price index was flat in early deals on Monday, steadying after a hefty sell-off the previous session as weakness in oil majors was offset by gains in heavyweight miners and banks.
At 0752 GMT the FTSE 100 was 0.54 points higher at 4,989.24 after ending at a near three-week closing low below the 5,000-level on Friday, down 59.11 points at 4,988.70.
"It's just a very dull Monday morning with everything a bit undecided after Wall Street fell on Friday. Investors are cautious with the start of the U.S. corporate earnings season and the Bank of England and the ECB meetings later this week," said David Morrison, market strategist at GFT Global.
Miners provided the main prop keeping the FTSE 100 index steady on Monday supported by slightly firmer copper prices thanks to an easier dollar, and by some positive broker comment.
In a sector review RBS upgraded its base metal price forecasts leading it to raise targets and estimates across the board and upgrade ratings for four firms to "buy".
Rio Tinto, BHP Billiton, Antofagasta and Vedanta Resources were boosted higher by RBS's upgrades, gaining 1.2 to 3.5 percent.
Weaker than expected non-farm payrolls data pressured U.S. shares on Friday, with Wall Street falling for a fourth session, while in Asia stocks steadied near a three-week low on Monday.
"Fundamentals don't justify what's been going on and we might get a dose of reality hitting the market from now on," Morrison said.
Banks were higher, rallying after recent falls led by Royal Bank of Scotland, up 1.8 percent, while Lloyds Banking Group, Barclays, HSBC and Standard Chartered added 0.2 to 0.4 percent.
The Daily Telegraph newspaper said that RBS was set to meet investors this week to tie up the minutiae of a 4 billion-pound share placing as negotiations with the Treasury about joining the toxic loans insurance programme intensify.
Meanwhile, Barclays was set to enter into exclusive talks with insurer Standard Life to negotiate a 250 million pound deal to purchase its banking division, the Mail on Sunday paper said.
Elsewhere with financials, RSA Insurance gained 0.9 percent. After unsuccessfully searching the markets for takeover targets, the Sunday Telegraph said RSA has abandoned plans to raise $1 billion in a rights issue.
Life insurer Aviva shed 1.6 percent after confirming its intention to float off its Dutch insurance business Delta Lloyd in an IPO in November. The UK firm is looking to raise up to 1.6 billion euros from the flotation, according to two poeple close to the matter..
Peer Legal & General extended Friday's falls, losing 1.2 percent having gained around 13 percent overall last week driven by persistent bid speculation.
OILS DRAG
Oil majors were the major drag on blue chip sentiment as crude prices fell back below $70, with BP, Royal Dutch Shell, BG Group, and Tullow Oil shedding 0.4 to 0.6 percent.
On the macro front, a survey from the Confederation of British Industry showed nearly a third of 89 UK firms reported a rise in business volumes in the three months to Sept. 2, against 24 percent reporting a decline, giving a balance of 7 percent.
The British CIPS/Markit Services PMI for September is due for release at at 0828 GMT. Analysts are expecting the survey to show a growth of 54.5 from 54.1 in August, reflecting the view that the economy was on a path to recovery.
U.S. data due for release Monday include the Institute for Supply Management non-manufacturing index for September, which is expected to show a reading of 49.9 from 48.4 in August.
