FTSE 100: Large-caps steady as miners recover Investors gingerly returned to the miners on Wednesday having fled from riskier stocks the previous day as eurozone fears returned with a vengeance. Spanish bond yields neared 6pc on Tuesday, sparking concerns over the country's debt situation, but they eased on Wednesday. That helped lure some traders back into the market and miners in particular drew some support from better-than-expected first-quarter numbers from Alcoa. The US aluminium producer kicked off the Wall Street earnings season with a surprise first-quarter profit - following a loss in the fourth quarter of 2011 - as global markets improved, especially in the aerospace and automobile sectors. Copper miner Antofagasta advanced 2.2pc and Kazkahmys gained 2.2pc. Despite a rally from the miners, the FTSE 100 only managed to tick up 7 points to 5602. Ben Critchley, sales trader at IG Index, said: "Markets have eked out modest gains this morning, but sentiment still feels quite fragile in the wake of yesterday's heavy falls." "While US markets are still in possession of some of the gains from the first quarter, UK and European indices are in much worse shape," he added. It seems that the weaker jobs report from the US on Friday is being used as the catalyst for a general sell-off, as concerns about the eurozone combine with worries about a weaker US economy. Banks rebounded too, with Barclays adding 3.7pc and Lloyds Banking Group almost 3pc higher. The former's rise came as Investec upped its rating on the lender to "buy." Security giant G4S also benefited from broker optimism. Morgan Stanley raised its target price to 280p from 265p. But, defensives were on the back foot as traders' risk appetite returned. Drug makers Shire and GlaxoSmithKline lost 2.6pc and 1.2pc respectively.