The FTSE 100 pared gains on Wednesday as global stocks took pause ahead of the US Federal Reserve's interest rate decision.
The UK's top tier index closed four points higher at 6834.8 points, down from session highs of 6876.3.
Meanwhile, the pound dipped by 0.1% to 1.297 against the US dollar, as central bank news weighed on currency markets.
Sterling was down 0.15 at 1.163 against the euro.
Global stocks were muted ahead of an interest rate decision from the US Federal Reserve.
Shares rose earlier in the day following news of fresh stimulus measures by the Bank of Japan, which left interest rates on hold - but surprisingly set a target for 10-year bond yields.
The US central bank was widely expected to stand pat on rates, but Connor Campbell, a financial analyst at SpreadEx, said nuances in the Fed's statement would likely move currency markets.
"The greenback could well find itself making headway after the meeting even if the central bank leaves rates unchanged thanks to the potential for a 'hawkish hold', something that would leave a rate hike on the table for some point before the year is out," he said.
Mr Campbell added that markets had priced in a 15% to 22% chance that the central bank would raise rates, "meaning it will come as a real shock if the Fed does pull the trigger".
UK markets were largely unaffected by data which showed that Government borrowing, excluding banks, was slightly higher than analyst forecasts in August - coming in at £10.5 billion versus economist estimates for £10 billion.
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said public sector net debt rose to £1.6 trillion last month, equivalent to 83.6% of gross domestic product (GDP).
Across Europe, the German Dax rose 0.5% and the French Cac 40 finished higher by 0.5%.
In oil markets, Brent crude prices jumped 1.3% to 46.79 US dollars per barrel after the US Energy Information Administration reported a surprising drop in US crude inventories, and oil services workers in Norway went on strike.
In UK stocks, shares in Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) were lower by 0.3% or 0.5p at 183p, following reports that Santander walked away from a deal to buy Williams & Glynn - the RBS branches that the bank has to offload in order to appease EU rules on state aid.
RBS is now expected to fetch less than the £1.9 billion it wants for the business.
Away from the top tier index, Bonmarche shares plummeted over 20% or 25p to 90p, after issuing a profit warning, saying "unseasonably hot weather" in September was hurting sales of its autumn ranges.
The retailer said it expects like-for-like sales at its shops to plunge by 8% in the second quarter and first half of the year, resulting in full year pre-tax profit of between £5 million to £7 million.
Majestic Wine shares also took a drubbing off the back of a profit warning, with shares falling over 23% or 103.5p to 330p
The company said was suffering from an ill-fated and costly marketing campaign for its Naked Wines business in America and tough trading in its commercial arm.
The biggest risers on the FTSE 100 were Legal and General up 7.9p at 222.6p, Anglo American up 31.1p at 888.7p, Kingfisher up 11.9p at 380.7p, and Barclays up 5.15p at 171.6p.
The biggest losers on the FTSE 100 were Ashtead Group down 34p to 1182p, Tui AG down 26p to 1049p, Hikma Pharmaceuticals down 46p to 2113p and BAE Systems down 11p at 533.5p.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here