* Miners weak after Chinese data, Rio update
* Banks in demand after JPMorgan results, Exane upgrade
By Jon Hopkins
LONDON, April 15 (Reuters) - Britain's top shares were flat
in mid-session trade on Thursday, with falls by heavyweight
miners offsetting gains by banks, as investors paused for breath
after advances on positive U.S. earnings.
At 1041 GMT, the FTSE 100 <> index was up 2.53 points
at 5,798.78, after poking above 5,800 early on.
"Despite the positive start to the U.S. earnings season so
far, closer to the UK shores investors are not getting too far
ahead of themselves," said Joshua Raymond, market strategist at
City Index.
Weak miners were the main drag on sentiment for the blue
chips, with the sector giving back some recent gains after a
mixed update from Rio Tinto <RIO.L> and as base metal prices
dipped back after some strong Chinese data.
BHP Billiton <BLT.L>, Rio Tinto <RIO.L>, Eurasian Natural
Resources <ENRC.L>, Anglo American <AAL.L>, Xstrata <XTA.L>, and
Kazakhmys <KAZ.L> fell 0.6 to 1.3 percent.
Rio Tinto slightly raised its production guidance for iron
ore after posting a 39 percent jump in first-quarter output
driven by Chinese demand and recovery in the West. []
China's annual economic growth quickened in the first
quarter to 11.9 percent, the fastest pace since 2007, benefiting
from a low base of comparison last year and the momentum from
massive stimulus packages. []
"This will inevitably re-raise concerns that they may be
forced into cooling growth in the near term, which is likely to
have an impact on metal demand," City Index's Raymond said.
Banks led the blue chips gainers after the sector got a
boost from above-forecast earnings from U.S. peer JPMorgan Chase
<JPM.N> on Wednesday. Bank of America <BAC.N> continues the
sector reporting season on Friday.
Royal Bank of Scotland <RBS.L>, Lloyds Banking Group
<LLOY.L>, Barclays <BARC.L>, HSBC <HSBA.L> and Standard
Chartered <STAN.L> put on 0.4 to 1.9 percent.
Banks also benefited from an Exane BNP Paribas note upping
its sector stance to "neutral" from "underperform".
ENERGY BOOST
Energy issues also gave the blue chips a lift, with positive
comment from Credit Suisse supporting the sector.
The broker raised target prices across the sector for both
integrated oils and oil explorers, and upped its rating for BP
<BP.L> to "outperform" from "neutral".
BP shares added 0.5 percent, while BG Group <BG.L>, Tullow
Oil <TLW.L> and Cairn Energy <CNE.L> gained 0.1 to 0.9 percent.
But Royal Dutch Shell <RDSa.L> bucked the firmer sector
trend, losing 0.4 percent. The crude price <CLc1> was lower.
Experian <EXPN.L> was the biggest FTSE 100 faller, down 3.4
percent after the credit information firm's trading update
failed to inspire. []
Weakness in selected defensive issues was also a feature
among the blue-chip fallers. British American Tobacco <BATS.L>
and Imperial Tobacco <IMT.L> fell 1.6 and 0.8 percent,
respectively, while drinks firm Diageo <DGE.L> lost 1.3 percent.
Cruise-operator Carnival <CCL.L> was a top FTSE 100 riser,
up 1.8 percent after Morgan Stanley hiked its target price and
repeated its "overweight" stance.
BT Group <BT.L>, up 2.1 percent benefitted again from an
upbeat Morgan Stanley note published on Wednesday.
On the macroeconomic front, British consumer morale last
month suffered its biggest fall since July 2008, wiping out all
the gains since the start of the year due to a sharp drop in
optimism about the next six months in a Nationwide Building
Society survey. []
No other domestic data was released on Thursday, so
investors will look across the Atlantic. U.S. weekly jobless
claims are due at 1230 GMT, together with April's Empire State
Index, while the Philly Fed index is due at 1400 GMT.
(Editing by Karen Foster)
