* FTSE 100 ends flat; FTSE 250 up 0.5 pct
* Miners, oil stocks biggest drags
* IWG jumps on sale of Japan business, CS rating hike
By Muvija M
April 15 (Reuters) - Britain's FTSE 100 was at a loss fordirection on Monday as a dip in miners and oil majors offsetgains in bank stocks, while office group IWG pushed midcapshigher after announcing an asset sale.
The blue-chip index .FTSE ended a lacklustre session aboutflat, lagging its European peers, while the FTSE 250 .FTMC held on to its six-month high with a 0.5 percent rise as astronger pound also aided.
The pound's gains followed upbeat comments from Britain'sforeign minister Jeremy Hunt on talks between the government andthe opposition Labour Party to find a consensus over Brexit.
Miners .FTNMX1770 , which last week scaled seven-yearhighs, handed back some of those gains with a 1.5 percent fall,despite a rise in copper prices as data from China showed higherunwrought copper imports in March.
Supply concerns and hopes of a U.S.-China trade resolutionalso supported metal prices.
CMC Markets analyst David Madden said there did not appearto be any major shift in sentiment and investors seemed to taketheir profits out of metal stocks.
Shell RDSa.L and BP BP.L extended losses following a dipin oil prices. O/R
Financial stocks .FTNMX8350 jumped to a six-month high,bolstered by a read-across from last week's upbeat results fromU.S. bellwethers JP Morgan JPM.N and Wells FargoWFC.N , andstrong bank loan data from China.
But the sectoral index pared some gains as quarterlyrevenues reported by U.S. big banks Goldman SachsGS.N andCitigroup C.N fell below Wall Street expectations on Monday.
"Traders will be keeping a close eye on ... whether thestrong start (to U.S. earnings) is able to continue beyond thebanking sector ... right now this is looking unlikely," LondonCapital Group analyst Jasper Lawler said.
Compass GroupCPG.L , the world's biggest catering firm,slipped 2.2 percent on its worst day in six months after aBarclays rating cut.
Midcaps saw some strong news-related moves.
Serviced office space provider IWG IWG.L surged 21.1percent to a two-year high after plans to sell its Japaneseoperations for 320 million pounds and a double upgrade fromCredit Suisse on the stock.
After being pummelled last week on U.S. charges over opioidprescriptions, drugmaker IndiviorINDV.L enjoyed its best dayin three years as brokerage Bernstein suggested that the $3billion headline fine had the potential to be reduced.
Shares in Indivior jumped 19.1 percent on the prospect.
Mediterranean-focused Energean Oil & GasENOG.L jumped 8.5percent to a record high after announcing a new gas discovery atthe Karish North exploration well.
Builder Kier KIE.L added nearly 8 percent as it said itsnewly appointed CEO planned to cut debt and respond to problemsaffecting the outsourcing industry.
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