* Heavyweights BP, Rio Tinto go ex-dividend
* HSBC, Lloyds rebound but RBS, Barclays fall, L&G down
* BoE minutes fail to dispel gloom
By Simon Falush
LONDON, Feb 18 (Reuters) - Britain's top share index fell
0.9 percent by midday on Wednesday, down for its fifth straight
session, as energy and mining stocks fell on depressed commodity
prices while life insurers and banks took a further beating.
By 1128 GMT, the FTSE 100 <> was down 32.30 points, or
0.8 percent, at 4,001.83, after falling 2.4 percent to hit its
lowest closing level in three months on Tuesday.
The blue-chip index is down 6.4 percent this month and 9.8
percent on the year after falling over 31 percent in 2008.
Companies going ex-dividend, including BP <BP.L> and Rio
Tinto <RIO.L>, weighed on the index, but weak data and the bleak
economic outlook also deepened losses from commodity stocks.
"There's not a scrap of good news," said David Buik, senior
partner at BGC Capital Partners.
"The dole queues are lengthening and there's no prospect of
them getting shorter, there's no prospect of growth and that's
weighing on equities."
British factory orders fell more than expected this month
and at their fastest rate since 1992, the Confederation of
British Industry said. []
British average weekly earnings grew by 2.2 percent in
December 2008 compared with a year earlier, the weakest pace of
growth since February 2003, the government said.
Energy stocks took the most points off the index, with
ex-dividend BP down 3.4 percent. Royal Dutch Shell <RDSa.L>, BG
Group <BG.L>, Cairn Energy <CNE.L> and Tullow Oil <TLW.L> were
down between 0.2 and 2.4 percent.
Similarly mining stocks were hit by the forlorn outlook for
demand with Rio Tinto, Kazakhmys <KAZ.L>, and BHP Billiton down
2.2 to 2.8 percent.
Minutes from the Bank of England's February Monetary Policy
Committee meeting revealed that policymakers voted unanimously
this month to seek government consent for quantitative easing
and voted 8-1 to cut interest rates to 1 percent, a record low.
This did little to settle anxious investors' nerves and the
pound fell to a two-week low against the dollar below $1.42
<GBP=> and stocks extended losses.
Royal Bank of Scotland <RBS.L> slid 8.2 percent after the
Daily Telegraph said the lender needs to find up to 8 billion
pounds ($11.3 billion) if it is to subscribe to a state-backed
insurance scheme designed to cap any losses on toxic assets.
Standard Chartered <STAN.L> and Barclays also fell but HSBC
<HSBA.L> and Lloyds Banking group added 1.5 and 2.9 percent
respectively.
INSURERS DOWN AGAIN
Shares in UK insurers were sharply lower again, led by Legal
& General <LGEN.L> which fell 8 percent as it failed to reassure
investors on Tuesday in an update on its capital position,
despite quelling rumours of a rights issue.
Prudential <PRU.L> fell 5 percent while Amlin <AML.L> lost
3.8 percent.
U.S. stocks slid within striking distance of the November
bear-market low on Tuesday, as grim manufacturing data signalled
the recession is worsening and warnings on risks facing European
banks underscored the continuing toll of the financial crisis.
Defensive drugmakers were in demand, with GlaxoSmithKline
<GSK.L> up 1.5 percent while Shire <SHP.L> gained 0.7 percent.
Schroders <SDR.L> <SDRt.L>, Scottish & Southern Energy
<SSE.L> and Hammerson <HMSO.L> also fell after going
ex-dividend.
(Additional reporting by Dominic Lau; Editing by Hans Peters)
