By Preeti Upadhyaya, MarketWatch LONDON (MarketWatch) — The U.K. index struggled to find direction on Thursday, as miners rose but oil firms and banks weighed on stocks. The FTSE 100 UK:UKX -0.22% fell 0.1% to 5,825.42. Miners led the benchmark following comments by Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao on Wednesday that he sees more scope to ease monetary policy as inflation wanes. Vedanta Resources PLC UK:VED +1.52% added 1.6% and Kazakhmys PLC UK:KAZ +1.82% rose 2%. Anglo American PLC UK:AAL +1.11% rose 1.3% and BHP Billiton PLC UK:BLT +0.88% BHP -1.04% edged up 0.8%. Polymetal International PLC UK:POLY +1.49% added 1.1% and Randgold Resources Ltd. UK:RRS +1.22% was up 0.9%. Metals prices were mixed. Steel firm Evraz PLC UK:EVR +1.83% climbed 2.1%. Moving in the opposite direction, oil major BG Group PLC UK:BG -1.29% slipped 1.3% after Morgan Stanley downgraded it to equalweight from overweight, according to Dow Jones Newswires. Royal Dutch Shell PLC UK:RDSB -0.66% RDS.B +0.38% shed 0.6% and BP PLC UK:BP -0.27% BP +0.62% eased 0.2%. Oil prices were slightly lower. On the data front in the U.K., the Office for National Statistics said retail sales for July rose 0.3% on the month and increased 2.8% compared to the same month last year. See: U.K. July retail sales up; no impact from Olympics. Standard Chartered PLC UK:STAN -1.02% fell 0.8% and Vodafone Group PLC UK:VOD -1.30% VOD -1.13% slipped 1.2%. Among other notable losers, insurance firm Admiral Group PLC UK:ADM -2.12% lost 1.7% and cruise-ship operator Carnival PLC UK:CCL -1.69% CCL -0.91% was off 1.6%. Preeti Upadhyaya is a MarketWatch reporter, based in London.

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