Leading shares have ended a volatile session lower as weakness in heavyweight miners and oil stocks offset M&A fever in the insurance sector and a solid start on Wall Street, dealers said.

By the close on Monday, the FTSE 100 index was down 14.2 points lower at 6,194.2, off a midmorning high of 6,239.8, in contrast with the positive wider market.

Volume was light, with 2.6 billion shares shares changing hands in 363,492 deals.

Vodafone was the most traded, seeing 343 million units change hands, followed by BP which saw 130 million shares switch owners.

Meanwhile, Wall Street edged higher as crude prices continued to slide and with positive broker comment providing a fillip to bellweathers Intel Corp and General Electric.

But trade is likely to be volatile ahead of a busy week for US data, with producer prices, consumer prices and retail sales all due.

By London's close, the DJIA was up 46.40 points at 12,155.80.

Back in London, miners provided the main drag as commodity prices continued to slide, with copper hitting four month lows and lead losing around 12 percent amid supply concerns and fears of a slowdown in the US and Chinese economy.

Rio Tinto fell back 115 pence at 2,765, Antofagasta dropped 26.50 -- or 5.36 pence -- to finish at 468.25, Xstrata was down 103 at 2,192 and Kazakhmys lost 60 pence -- or 5 percent -- to end at 1,140.

Peer Vedanta Resources was also lower, down 66 at 1,367 ahead of Thursday's first-half figures, with the stock hit by news that its majority-owned Konkola copper mine in Zambia has been forced to suspend production.

Oil majors were also under pressure as crude prices remained below the 60 dollars a barrel mark on forecasts of higher-than-expected temperatures in the US.

Earlier Monday afternoon, New York's main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in December, fell 74 cents to 58.84 dollars a barrel in electronic deals before the official opening of the US market.

BP was down 8 at 590, Royal Dutch Shell eased 19 at 1914, BG off 2 at 707.50 and Cairn Energy slipped 56 at 1907.

Elsewhere, broker comment knocked InterContinental Hotels by 3 to 1048.50 after Citigroup downgraded the group to 'hold' vs 'buy', dealers said.

The broker said the shares are up 25 percent since their summer lows, but it believes there is limited upside short-term as the current share price does not discount risks of accelerating supply growth and a soft landing in the US.

In contrast, M&A hopes helped to limit losses, with Resolution the top performer after the insurer confirmed weekend press reports it is in early-stage talks on a possible takeover.

The Sunday Times reported that the 4.3 billion pounds life insurer is looking to merge with a larger rival and is understood to have met several life insurers in the past two months, including Standard Life and Prudential.

In reaction, Fox-Pitt, Kelton reiterated its 'outperform' stance, arguing that it would expect Resolution's management to weigh up all the options and "pick the one that creates the most value."

Resolution took on 32.50 pence -- or 5.12 percent -- to stand at 667.50, Standard Life rose 1 to 287.50, while Prudential added 13.50 to 651.50.

ITV was also in demand, flirting with six-month highs as a raft of weekend press comment indicated cable giant NTL is willing to press ahead with its planned bid for the broadcaster.

The Financial Times said in its weekend edition that NTL will offer 5 billion pounds in cash for ITV, alongside an equity alternative aimed at limiting the increase in its debt burden if the deal goes ahead.

And according to The Sunday Times, ITV could yet receive rival bid approaches from other media firms, including Time Warner, Viacom and RTL.

ITV took on 3.25 at 114.75.

Remaining with M&A, Scottish Power was also courted, up 2.50 pence at 743.50, after the Independent on Sunday reported that Iberdrola, the Spanish energy company plotting a 12 billion pounds takeover of the UK group, has teamed up with ABN Amro to launch a joint bid.

And the Mail on Sunday told readers that Iberdrola is poised to pounce as early as Tuesday.

Brokers, though, were not convinced by the deal, with Merrill Lynch downgrading Scottish Power to 'neutral' from 'buy' on valuation.

Elsewhere, selected pharma stocks enjoyed a morning rally as investors bought back into the sector following last week's weakness after the Democrats success in the mid-term US elections.

AstraZeneca was 56 firmer at 3,066, Shire was 32.50 better at 996.50 and Glaxo aded 6 at 1366. British Energy went up by 18 pence -- or 3.7 percent -- to stand at 496.

In broker comment, Friends Provident gained 2.75 at 214.25 after Morgan Stanley upgraded the insurer to 'equal-weight' from 'underweight' on the back of the group's recent "uncharacteristically aggressive" upgrades to its UK business profit targets.

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