London shares closed little changed on Monday as investors cashed in on recent major gains or kept to the sidelines ahead of a busy week for UK company results, dealers said.
The benchmark FTSE 100 index edged up 9.96 points or 0.16 percent to close at 6,294.41.
As the index keeps pushing towards fresh highs since the 2008 credit crunch, traders were held back on Monday by signs of ongoing weakness in the eurozone.
Data showed that bank lending to private households in the euro area contracted again in December as the region’s crippling debts continue to put a freeze on demand for credit.
Eurozone bank loans to the private sector declined by 0.7 percent in December compared with the same month in 2011 after already shrinking by 0.8 percent the previous month, the European Central Bank said in a statement.
IOn the London market on Monday, a modest rise of 1.71 percent to 305.85 pence was enough to put troubled bank Barclays at the top the blue chip leaderboard, with Aberdeen Asset Management the second biggest gainer thanks to a 1.59 percent improvement to 422 pence.
The falling stocks showed similar small changes, with resources companies making up most of the leading stocks which ended the day in negative territory. Evraz shed 2.10 percent to 293.70 pence, Fresnillo dropped 2.06 percent to 1,663 pence and BG Group eased 2.02 percent to 1,142 pence.
A slew of UK corporate announcements starts on Tuesday with an interim management statement by power company National Grid and a trading update from betting firm William Hill.
Wednesday will see United Utilities and Imperial Tobacco release interim management statements.
Thursday is set to be the biggest day for corporate news, when oil giant Royal Dutch Shell and pharmaceutical group AstraZeneca are scheduled to issue fourth quarter and full year results.
Also on Thursday, broadcaster BSkyB is promising interim results.
On the currency markets, sterling weakened to $1.5688 at 5:31 pm from $1.5797 before the weekend and fell further against the euro, slipping to 1.1658 euros from 1.1737 euros on Friday night and 1.1804 euros on Thursday.
London shares close flat before busy earnings week
