London close: US and Eurozone uncertainty keeps stocks flat

- Democrats, Republicans wrangle over 'fiscal cliff'- Europe talks about bank supervisor - Defensives gain, resources fallThe FTSE 100 swung between gains and losses for most of Tuesday's session to finish the day broadly flat as ongoing concerns about the US budget and developments in the Eurozone weighed on investors' minds."It's been a rather slow day on equity markets today as markets tread water as uncertainty prevails over what's going on in the US with respect to arguments between Democrats and Republicans over spending cuts relative to tax rises, before year end," said market analyst Michael Hewson from CMC Markets.In a letter to President Barack Obama, House Speaker John Boehner presented a deficit-reduction proposal that included $1.4tn in spending cuts and $800bn in new revenue. However, the plan was rejected by the Obama administration as it didn't include higher tax rates for top earners. Market analyst Craig Erlam from Alpari said this afternoon: "At this stage there are very few people who are underestimating the potentially devastating effects that the fiscal cliff could have, apart from maybe the people in charge of avoiding it who appear to be very relaxed on the subject. Market volatility is likely to remain low until we start to see some progress here."Markets were also still digesting weak manufacturing figures Stateside which dampened equities on Monday. The US Institute for Supply Management (ISM) purchasing managers' index fell from 51.7 to 49.5 in November, well below the 51.4 forecast. Any figure below 50 represents a contraction.Closer to home, the Ecofin met in Brussels today to discuss proposals on bank supervision and take stock of negotiations with the European Parliament on bank capital requirements. FTSE 100: Shire leads defensive stocks higher Shire was leading the defensive stocks after investors exercised caution as budget uncertainty in the US continues to weigh on sentiment. British Gas owner Centrica rose after partner EDF Energy announced that it has extended the life of two UK power stations by seven years. Tesco was on investors' shopping lists this afternoon ahead of its third-quarter trading update tomorrow. Shares were making gains after Jefferies said that the grocer is "gaining traction ahead of Christmas". Heading the other way was Tullow Oil after it admitted commercial hydrocarbons have not been found at the Zaedyus-2 appraisal well in offshore French Guiana after the company completed drilling. However, the group said it is confident the French Guiana block remains "highly prospective". The stock was joined in the red by Randgold Resources and Fresnillo, as gold, silver and platinum prices all fell. Just weeks after it published its third-quarter results, BP has told investors they can expect more than 50% growth in operating cash flow by 2014 at $100 per barrel. In an investor presentation held on Monday, the group unveiled details of expected production and capital expenditure planned for the coming years, but shares declined today.International Airlines Group (IAG), which owns British Airways, has warned that it has entered talks with unions to discuss plans to cut jobs within the airline's cabin crew based at Heathrow airport. Morrisons fell after Espirito Santo cut its target price from 265p to 230p and downgraded the stock to 'sell'.FTSE 250 movers: ITE exhibits positive figures ITE Group led the charge after it said revenues were up 11% in the last year and good trading conditions had continued into the new financial year. Westhouse Securities raised its target price for the conference and exhibition organiser from 245p to 261p, while Numis raised its target price from 288p to 294p. Both have a 'buy' recommendation on the stock.Paragon Group of Companies was a strong riser a day after it announced a potential deal that would grant the buy-to-let lender a banking licence. The mortgage provider confirmed on Monday that it was thinking about acquiring small private bank Hampshire Trust, which would give it the chance to offer savings accounts for its customers. Kenmare continues its slide following last week's announcement that it will produce up to 10% less of its key products this year than previously expected. When it made that announcement shares dropped 8%, but any recovery in the price has been muted and easily outstripped by falls, leaving the price down 6.6% in the last week.Among the following pack was Anite, which fell despite reporting a 30% increase in half-year profit and saying it was increasingly confident in meeting full-year forecasts. However, that didn't seem to be enough for investors who pushed the shares down 1.4% by the end of the day.FTSE 100 - RisersShire Plc (SHP) 1,855.00p +2.43%Admiral Group (ADM) 1,148.00p +1.50%Aviva (AV.) 355.50p +1.34%Tesco (TSCO) 326.65p +1.30%Centrica (CNA) 332.70p +1.28%RSA Insurance Group (RSA) 120.70p +1.17%Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 295.70p +1.06%British American Tobacco (BATS) 3,319.00p +1.03%Hargreaves Lansdown (HL.) 744.00p +1.02%Eurasian Natural Resources Corp. (ENRC) 270.60p +0.97%FTSE 100 - FallersTullow Oil (TLW) 1,292.00p -5.76%Carnival (CCL) 2,445.00p -3.05%Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 6,480.00p -2.78%Johnson Matthey (JMAT) 2,353.00p -1.84%Fresnillo (FRES) 1,958.00p -1.56%BP (BP.) 424.30p -1.36%Tate & Lyle (TATE) 761.50p -1.10%ARM Holdings (ARM) 762.00p -1.10%Sage Group (SGE) 311.20p -1.05%Polymetal International (POLY) 1,050.00p -1.04%FTSE 250 - RisersITE Group (ITE) 213.50p +8.27%Paragon Group Of Companies (PAG) 253.10p +4.59%TUI Travel (TT.) 278.10p +3.38%Brown (N.) Group (BWNG) 370.80p +3.00%PayPoint (PAY) 860.00p +2.99%Domino Printing Sciences (DNO) 593.00p +2.95%Kentz Corporation Ltd. (KENZ) 382.80p +2.93%Euromoney Institutional Investor (ERM) 807.00p +2.74%KCOM Group (KCOM) 70.00p +2.56%New World Resources A Shares (NWR) 265.50p +2.43%FTSE 250 - FallersKenmare Resources (KMR) 29.96p -3.35%JD Sports Fashion (JD.) 695.00p -2.80%Imagination Technologies Group (IMG) 400.00p -2.79%Ruspetro (RPO) 82.55p -2.60%Raven Russia Ltd (RUS) 61.50p -2.15%Dechra Pharmaceuticals (DPH) 575.00p -1.96%Man Group (EMG) 75.50p -1.95%Senior (SNR) 194.20p -1.87%Anite (AIE) 135.00p -1.82%Supergroup (SGP) 599.00p -1.80%BC