The UK markets remained tame and range-bound on Monday, with no clear economic or earnings catalyst to affect the overall investment mood.
The FTSE 100 index edged up by 12 points, or 0.2%, to close at 5,806. The mid-cap FTSE 250 index also added 17 points, or 0.2%, to close at 11,856.
The main headline grabber on the FTSE 100 was Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS). Shares in the bank fell by 1% on Monday after it announced that it was unable to complete the sale of 316 RBS branches to Santander UK.
"We've heard that [the deal fell through] because RBS' and Santander's banking platforms were incompatible, and ... Santander decided it would not be able to transfer the acquired clients to its platform," said Morningstar analyst, Erin Davis. "We take some solace in this Santander-specific explanation; we would be more worried if the deal collapsed over branch quality issues, which could indicate a larger asset quality issue at the bank."
To learn more about the scuttled deal, read Davis' report "RBS Faces Setback in Branch Sale".
Meanwhile, US banks were also in the headlines as earnings season continues in America.
JP Morgan Chase & Co (JPM), Wells Fargo & Co (WFC), Citigroup (C) and Charles Schwab (SCHW) have each now reported quarterly results, with all of them beating market expectations.
The latest results came from Charles Schwab, which posted a 12% increase in third-quarter net income, with a profit of $247 million compared with $220 million posted the same time last year. Revenue increased slightly by 1.3% to $1.2 billion, and both the top and bottom line were roughly in line with expectations. The firm's results were helped by increases in asset management fees. Shares were slightly higher in the US at midday.
Global M&A activity was also revived on Monday. Following reports last week of a potential acquisition, Japanese mobile-network firm Softbank has agreed to purchase a 70% stake in Sprint Nextel (S). The $20 billion deal will give Softbank a foothold in the US market and will increase Sprint's capital base immediately by $3.1 billion, which will help the firm compete with larger US competitors. The deal, which is expected to close by the middle of next year, is the largest international acquisition ever by a Japanese company.
Morningstar analyst Michael Hodel says this agreement is a boon for Sprint shareholders, and he plans to increase his fair value estimate for the company shortly.
With reporting by Kevin O'Shaughnessy from Morningstar.com.