U.K. stocks held mostly steady on Wednesday as the pound drifted lower against both the euro and U.S. dollar amid uncertainty over Brexit.
Media reports suggest that Prime Minister Theresa May will request a short delay to Brexit in a letter to European Union leaders today, ahead of a summit of EU leaders on Thursday and Friday.
Traders also watched developments on the U.S.-China trade front and looked ahead to the Fed and BoE meetings for directional cues.
The benchmark FTSE 100 was virtually unchanged at 7,321 in opening deals after gaining 0.3 percent on Tuesday.
Miners Anglo American, Antofagasta and Glencore fell around 2 percent on concerns of a delay in trade talks between the United States and China.
Energy stocks also drifted lower, with BP Plc losing 0.9 percent and Royal Dutch Shell declining half a percent.
Satellite operator Inmarsat soared 17 percent after it received a cash takeover offer from a private equity-led consortium.
Kier Group dropped 6.3 percent as it reported first -half loss before tax of 35.5 million pounds, compared to last year's profit of 34.3 million pounds.
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