UK stocks eased back Thursday, with bank shares declining as the Italian government was reportedly preparing to bail out struggling Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena.

The FTSE 100 was down 0.1% at 7,033.75 as financial, consumer goods and basic material shares traded in the red. But oil and gas and industrial shares notched gains. The index on Wednesday shed less than 0.1% to end at 7,041.42.