Equities in Europe edged lower in early trade Thursday but kept swinging to either sides near the flat line.
At 1:45 p.m. (I.S.T.), Britain's FTSE and Germany's DAX rose 0.2% each while France's CAC lost 0.1%.
Financials were pressured early on after Portugal parliament rejected a plan to cut down on spending, giving way to concerns of an imminentbailout, weakening the yen and prompting the OECD chief to warn of "market stress" if the budget failed.
Barclays, BNP Paribas, Credit Agricole and Societe Generale lost 0.8% to 1.8%.
But miners rose, thanks to firmer commodity prices: BHP Billiton, Rio Tinto, Xstrata and Anglo American edged up 1.4% to 2%.
In news-driven stocks, Imperial Tobacco Group fell 3% and Kingfisher rose 6% after declaring respective results.
Elsewhere, in Asia, the Japanese market ended lower after nuclear concerns continued to put investors on edge, while most other key markets ended higher.