London close: FTSE 100 treads water at eight-month high

- FTSE 100 fails to break 2013 intraday high- Credit squeeze eases in China- IMF lifts global growth forecaststechMARK 2,846.40 -0.25%FTSE 100 6,834.26 -0.04%FTSE 250 16,144.20 -0.51%After a choppy session, UK markets finished broadly flat on Tuesday as the FTSE 100 teetered at levels not reached in eight months.An easing of credit conditions in China and upwards revisions to growth estimates by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) failed to keep the Footsie in positive territory today, as cautiousness set in after a 3.5% rise over the past month.Despite US markets reopening after a three-day weekend - Wall Street was closed for Martin Luther King Jr. Day yesterday - it was another lacklustre session in London with trading rangebound for most of the day. The benchmark FTSE 100 finished at 6,834.26, down just 2.47 points, erasing gains late on after coming close to last year's intraday high of 6,875 in afternoon trade. Yesterday, the index hit 6,836.72, its best closing level since reaching 6,840.27 in May 2013.Toby Morris, Senior Sales Trader at CMC Markets, said that the 6,875 intraday high reached last year is "the only historical resistance to break before taking on all-time high recorded back in 1999".Stocks rose initially this morning, tracking gains for Asian markets overnight on the back of an easing of credit conditions in China as the central bank injected fresh liquidity into the country's large banks to meet demand for cash ahead of Chinese New Year later this month.Meanwhile, the IMF lifted its growth forecast for the global economy to 3.7% for 2014, up from its previous estimate of 3.6%, owing to upwards revisions to forecasts in the UK, US, Europe and Japan.On a negative note, there was a surprise fall in the German ZEW index on economic sentiment which fell from 62 to 61.7 in January, worse than rise to 64 expected by analysts. The current situation index, however, jumped from 32.4 to 41.2.Intertek jumps on SGS readacross, Unilever gainsIntertek, a provider of testing and safety solutions, jumped as a result of readacross from its sector peer, Swiss firm SGS, which posted upbeat full-year results. Consumer products group Unilever was also high riser today after reporting underlying sales growth of 4.3% for 2013, helped by strong growth in the emerging markets.Drugs maker GlaxoSmithKline rose after reporting that its new HIV treatment, Tivicay, has received approval in Europe. Mining stocks sank on weak metal prices, pushing Randgold Resources, Anglo American, Rio Tinto, Fresnillo, BHP Billiton, and Glencore Xstrata all firmly lower. Investors were also focusing on comments from Goldman Sachs, which adjusted its commodity price forecasts for 2014 and beyond. William Hill and Ladbrokes slumped after JPMorgan Cazenove expressed concerns about potential regulatory restrictions on machine gaming, which could result in "material downgrades and significant shop closures" at the bookmakers. Weir Group slumped after fellow oil services provider Baker Hughes highlighted higher costs for the sector in its fourth-quarter results. Baker said a surplus of natural-gas supply led to lower prices and pushed energy companies to shift operations to oil-rich shale, which is more difficult to tap. British Land was named as HSBC's key 'overweight'-rated company, giving the stock a lift today, as the bank gave an upbeat outlook for UK property sector.FTSE 100 - RisersAssociated British Foods (ABF) 2,806.00p +4.23%Intertek Group (ITRK) 3,000.00p +3.16%Hargreaves Lansdown (HL.) 1,549.00p +2.65%Imperial Tobacco Group (IMT) 2,284.00p +2.51%Standard Chartered (STAN) 1,358.00p +2.26%easyJet (EZJ) 1,710.00p +2.21%Coca-Cola HBC AG (CDI) (CCH) 1,768.00p +2.20%Diageo (DGE) 1,985.00p +1.95%Unilever (ULVR) 2,480.00p +1.76%Babcock International Group (BAB) 1,426.00p +1.71%FTSE 100 - FallersRio Tinto (RIO) 3,231.50p -3.13%Antofagasta (ANTO) 819.50p -3.02%Anglo American (AAL) 1,356.00p -2.66%Weir Group (WEIR) 2,174.00p -2.38%Aberdeen Asset Management (ADN) 426.00p -2.16%Morrison (Wm) Supermarkets (MRW) 250.10p -1.88%William Hill (WMH) 355.40p -1.82%Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 4,112.00p -1.74%BHP Billiton (BLT) 1,854.50p -1.70%BAE Systems (BA.) 437.50p -1.49%FTSE 250 - RisersRank Group (RNK) 150.00p +3.88%African Barrick Gold (ABG) 206.50p +2.94%Homeserve (HSV) 304.30p +2.15%Petra Diamonds Ltd.(DI) (PDL) 125.00p +2.04%Ocado Group (OCDO) 527.00p +2.03%Xaar (XAR) 1,031.00p +1.98%Greencore Group (GNC) 242.70p +1.85%Grainger (GRI) 221.70p +1.70%JD Sports Fashion (JD.) 1,651.00p +1.60%Daejan Holdings (DJAN) 4,845.00p +1.57%FTSE 250 - FallersKazakhmys (KAZ) 185.50p -4.87%Ladbrokes (LAD) 158.60p -4.86%Ferrexpo (FXPO) 171.40p -4.78%Imagination Technologies Group (IMG) 199.80p -4.36%Kenmare Resources (KMR) 18.21p -3.65%Bodycote (BOY) 685.00p -3.52%Thomas Cook Group (TCG) 180.10p -3.28%Vedanta Resources (VED) 908.50p -3.04%Laird (LRD) 306.60p -2.97%Ophir Energy (OPHR) 299.40p -2.95%BC