FTSE flat as central banks news awaited

LONDON (Reuters) - The FTSE 100 was flat in early deals on Thursday, with investors wary ahead of the final Bank of England and European Central Bank monetary policy decisions for 2012, although no changes are expected.

Underlying support, however, came from renewed hopes for negotiations in Washington to avoid the so-called fiscal cliff of year-end tax hikes and spending cuts after President Obama on Wednesday that said a deal was possible within a week, though he expressed it as a hope not a prediction. His comments boosted stocks on Wall Street and in Asia.

At 0813 GMT, the FTSE 100 index was up 4.87 points, or 0.1 percent, at 5,896.97, having closed 0.4 percent higher on Wednesday.

Standard Chartered was a FTSE 100 gainer, up 0.6 percent after the bank said it expects to pay $330 million to settle a case with U.S. regulators who accused the Asia-focused lender of failing to comply with sanctions against Iran, further denting profit growth this year.

Rolls-Royce was the biggest blue chip casualty, down 5 percent as the aerospace and defence group said it had passed information to Britain's Serious Fraud Office relating to concerns about bribery and corruption involving its intermediaries overseas.

(Reporting by Jon Hopkins; Editing by Sudip Kar-Gupta)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/ftse-flat-central-banks-news-awaited-081726061--finance.html

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