FTSE remains flat

Britain's FTSE 100 index ended flat on Tuesday as forecast-beating results from BP and Royal Dutch Shell offset weakness in miners and banks. The UK's blue chip index closed down 1 point, or 0.02 percent at 6,089.4, after trading as much as 0.7 percent higher earlier in the session.
"With consumer confidence dipping, it is a pretty solid indication that in the next few months US consumers are going to find it much more difficult to drive growth," said Peter Dixon, UK economist at Commerzbank. "That obviously is going to knock back on earnings."
Confidence among US consumers fell to a five-year low in April as they confronted the grimmest jobs outlook since late 2004, the Conference Board said. "We are going to get worse economic data and earnings in the next few quarters and consequently I would expect equity markets to retrack recent gains," Dixon said. But all eyes will be on the Federal Reserve's rate decision on Wednesday and US non-farm payrolls data on Friday, he added.
Heavyweights BP and Royal Dutch Shell lent support to the index, after the oil giants beat forecasts with big rises in first-quarter profits, helped by record oil prices. BP rose 6 percent and Shell climbed 5.3 percent, while gas producer BG added 0.8 percent.
Miners, on the other hand, were the standout losers as metal prices weakened. Kazakhmys, BHP Billiton, Rio Tinto, Vedanta Resources, Xstrata, Anglo American and Eurasian Natural Resources were down between 1.6 and 4.5 percent. Banks also fell after HBOS unveiled a 4 billion pound ($7.9 billion) rights issue and said it would cut its dividend to cover additional writedowns on the value of toxic assets and to shore up its balance sheet.
The sector was also hit by Deutsche Bank's announcement of its first quarterly loss in five years and further writedowns of 2.7 billion euros. HBOS was 1.8 percent lower. Barclays shed 2.2 percent, Royal Bank of Scotland lost 1.1 percent, Lloyds TSB slipped 1.9 percent and Standard Chartered fell 1.3 percent.
HSBC, however, gained 0.7 percent. China's Bank of Communications, which is 19 percent owned by HSBC, reported a doubling in first-quarter profit, boosted by lower tax charges and strong growth in interest income and fees.
The FSTE 100 has gained nearly 7 percent so far this month, on track for its best monthly rise in five years. On the macro front, apart from the weak consumer confidence, prices of existing US single-family homes extended their slump in February, with 17 of the 20 measured regions posting record annual declines, according to the Standard & Poor's/Case Shiller home price index.
Building materials group Wolseley, which earns half of its revenues in North America, was down 3.5 percent. UK housebuilders also fell, with Persimmon off 3.6 percent, Taylor Wimpey down 3 percent and Barratt Developments losing 4.2 percent.
British Airways slipped 0.7 percent after the airline said it was increasing fuel surcharges on all tickets issued from May 2, due to continuing high oil prices. Shire advanced 3.1 percent after losing 8 percent in the previous two sessions following the drugmaker's announcement on Friday that sales of its biggest drug hope, Vyvanse for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, would be at the lower end of its previous expectations.