LONDON MARKETS: Banks Rise, Miners Stumble In London Trade

By Carla Mozee, MarketWatch

LONDON (MarketWatch) -- U.K. stocks seesawed Thursday, with banking and oil shares posting gains while miners were pulled lower.

The FTSE 100 was up less than 3 points at 6,659.73. The benchmark on Wednesday finished 0.4% higher on fading prospects of an early interest-rate increase by the Bank of England.

Banking stocks on Thursday rose, adding to gains in the previous session for the interest-rate sensitive sector. Royal Bank of Scotland picked up 0.8%, Barclays PLC up 0.5% and HSBC higher by 0.7%.

But miners struggled, with Rio Tinto down 1.8%, Glencore PLC fell 1.5% and BHP Billiton lost 1%.

The pound (GBPUSD) bought $1.6672, down from $1.6695 late Wednesday. The pound was shoved lower Wednesday after the Bank of England cut its annual wage-growth view, which the market saw as lessening the odds that the central bank will hike its benchmark rate this year from its current record low 0.5%.

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