* FTSE 100 index back above 5,400, up 0.7 percent
* Banks higher; RBS up after results
* Oils, miners lifted by firmer commod prices
* U.S. non-farm payrolls awaited
By Jon Hopkins
LONDON, Aug 6 (Reuters) - Britain's top shares pushed higher
near midday on Friday, with RBS results and firmer commodities
prices lifting bank and mining stocks, but volumes were thin as
investors awaited the key U.S. jobs report for July.
At 1042 GMT, the FTSE 100 <> index was up 39.27 points,
or 0.7 percent, at 5,405.05, above the psychologically important
5,400 level beyond which it has not closed since May 13.
"Expectations are for around 85,000 (U.S.) jobs to have been
lost in July and with global stock markets looking decidedly
jittery in recent days, any slightly worse number could be
enough of a catalyst to spark off selling ahead of the weekend,"
Will Hedden, sales trader at IG Index, said.
Royal Bank of Scotland led bank shares higher on Friday,
rising 2.3 percent after lower impairment losses helped its
second quarter operating profit and the bank forecast good
medium-term prospects for its business.
RBS which is 83-percent state-owned, rounded off the British
bank's reporting season with an operating profit of 869 million
pounds ($1.38 billion) for the second-quarter, compared 713
million pounds in the first-quarter. []
Peer Lloyds Bankings Group <LLOY.L>, which posted strong
results on Wednesday, gained 0.8 percent. Barclays <BARC.L> rose
1.5 percent, after falling early in the day on a UBS downgrade.
Among other financials, Old Mutual <OML.L> added 3.1 percent
after the Anglo-South African firm posted a better-than-expected
43-percent jump in half-year profits, helped by cost cuts.
The group also said it had sold its U.S. life insurer for
$350 million to hedge fund Harbinger Capital. []
Insurers were also bolstered by other well-received results
in the sector. RSA Insurance <RSA.L> rose 1.3 percent after
Jefferies raised its rating to "buy" from "hold".
Satellites operator Inmarsat <ISA.L> was the top FTSE 100
riser, reversing earlier declines to add 6.2 percent as
investors warmed to its above-forecast second-quarter results
and $1.2 billion satellite fleet order. []
Integrated oils were the top blue chip performers, led by BP
<BP.L>, which is up 2.7 percent. BP finished pumping cement into
its ruptured Gulf of Mexico oil well on Thursday to seal off the
source of the world's worst offshore spill. []
MINERS LEND STRENGTH
Miners added their strength to the index as copper prices
<CMCU3> rose and gold <XAU=> held steady ahead of U.S. job data.
Miners also got a boost after Exane BNP Paribas upped its
stance on the European sector to "outperform" from
"underperform" and raised individual ratings on Rio Tinto
<RIO.L>, Xstrata <XTA.L> and Kazakhmys <KAZ.L>. The upgraded
trio's shares rose by between 2.3 and 2.7 percent.
But Lonmin <LMI> missed out on the sector gains, topping the
FTSE 100 fallers list with a 3.3 percent drop, after it said the
South African government had ordered it to stop selling nickel,
copper and other offshoots of its platinum production due to a
dispute over the prospecting rights. []
Among other blue-chip fallers, Unilever <ULVR.L> shed 1.6
percent after UBS and ING both downgraded the household products
firm. Unilever reported higher second-quarter sales on Thursday
but warned of a tough second half due to higher commodity costs
and stiff competition.
Other blue chips perceived by investors as defensive stocks
also weakened as appetite for riskier assets returned. Food
producers and brewers were among the worst off with traders
citing concerns about rising grain prices. AB Foods <ABF.L> and
SABMiller <SAB.L> lost 2.2 and 1.6 percent respectively.
(Editing by Lin Noueihed)
