Mixed earnings see FTSE steady near all-time highs

By Alistair Smout LONDON (Reuters) - FTSE stayed within reach of all-time highs on Wednesday as traders digested mixed earnings news on a busy day of corporate updates. Weak numbers from the likes of British American Tobacco were partly counteracted by a boost from better-than-expected results from the likes of Next. Miners fell 1.2 percent, the biggest sectoral faller, and the FTSE 100 was down 1.89 points, roughly flat in percentage terms, at 7,028.64 by 0750 GMT. "In the near-term, provi