London’s FTSE 100 pared early losses on Monday as a surge in banks following a report that the central bank was considering allowing dividend payments again helped offset losses in energy and mining stocks due to weak commodity prices. Shares in Barclays, HSBC and Lloyds Banking Group rose about 0.5% after The Times newspaper reported the Bank of England (BoE) and commercial banks are “bartering” a deal to allow banks to make shareholder payouts. Having declined as much as 1.3% in early trading, the FTSE 100 index was down 0.3%, while the domestically-focused mid-cap FTSE 250 index lost 0.2% as travel and leisure and industrial stocks fell.