The FTSE 100 was flat as further delays to Greek debt restructuring created more confidence sapping uncertainty - but the talk of the market was the agreed $90bn (£56bn) merger of Glencore and Xstrata.
After rejecting a proposed new bailout deal which demands strict labour reforms and other austerity steps Greek leaders today meet in a last ditch bid to avoid defaulting.
The full package must be approved by the Eurozone, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund before 15 February in order to complete legal procedures for a bond swap deal to save the country from economic abyss.
European shares fell back from six-month highs this morning, weighed by weak updates from the likes of UBS. The Swiss bank fell 1.1 per cent as it posted quarterly profit at the bottom end of expectations amid uncertainty around the Eurozone.
Miners were the poorest performers on London's blue chip index with Kazakhmys, Eurasian and Randgold Resources all down more than two per cent.
Xstrata was also down by a similar level after it was announced that the miner had agreed a $90bn "merger of equals" with commodities giant Glencore. In contrast Glencore was one of the highest risers on the index, up 1.9 per cent.
The deal will potentially create the seventh largest FTSE 100 company. Under the agreement Xstrata chief executive Mick Davis will lead the new group with Glencore's boss Ivan Glasenberg as deputy.
Other climbers included pharmaceutical company Shire, up 2.6 per cent, after a Goldman Sachs target price hike.
Meanwhile Essar Energy, which has been involved in a protracted tax battle in India, edged up by 0.9 per cent.
BP was flat after announcing its first dividend hike since the Gulf of Mexico spill crisis, made possible by a surge in earnings.
Profits for the quarter to the end of December 2011 were $7.6bn (£4.8bn).
In banking Lloyds was down 0.6 per cent and RBS 0.3 per cent. Barclays edged up by 0.3 per cent.
Meanwhile in Asia the Nikkei closed down 0.13 per cent and the Hang Seng 0.05 per cent.
Across the Atlantic later US consumer confidence numbers will be released along with consumer credit figures.
