* British unemployment tops 2 million, highest since 1997
* Most banks rise; RBS chairman optimistic
* Oils up on strong crude price
By Brian Gorman
LONDON, March 18 (Reuters) - Top London shares were flat at
midday on Wednesday, with further optimism in the banking sector
offset by unemployment in Britain hitting a 12-year high of more
than 2 million in February, above forecasts.
At 1147 GMT, London's FTSE 100 index <> was up 0.72
points, or 0.02 percent at 3,857.82.
The number of people claiming jobless benefit in February
jumped by the biggest amount since records began in 1971, and
the wider measure of unemployment rose above 2 million for the
first time since 1997. []
"The unemployment numbers were worse than expected and truly
horrendous in what they say about the state of the UK economy.
But the FTSE is more of an international index rather than just
a reflection of the UK, and it seems to have affected sterling
more," said Henk Potts, strategist at Barclays Wealth.
The FTSE 100 index has risen more than 11 percent since
falling to a six-year low last week, but is still down more than
13 percent in 2009, hurt by a banking crisis and the recession.
Royal Bank of Scotland <RBS.L> was up 8.1 percent after
chairman Philip Hampton told the Financial Times newspaper it
had benefited from "buoyant" corporate banking activity in its
key markets in 2009. []
RBS, 70-percent owned by Britain, is the latest bank to be
more upbeat following a period of turmoil for the sector.
"In terms of the banking sector, you could say we're not out
of the woods yet, but at least the trees have stopped falling on
us," said Potts.
On Tuesday, HSBC <HSBA.L> said trading continued to be
strong, helping its shares to their highest close since Feb. 27,
just before it announced a 12.5 billion pounds rights issue.
Barclays <BARC.L> rose 5.8 percent, while Standard Chartered
<STAN.L> was up 0.8 percent. HSBC, trading ex-dividend on
Wednesday, lost 1.6 percent.
Land Securities <LAND.L> and Standard Life <SL.L> also
dipped after going ex-dividend.
Insurers rose as global equity markets picked up. Old Mutual
<OML.L>, Aviva <AV.L> and Legal & General <LGEN.L> were up
1.4-7.2 percent.
OILS GAIN
Oils were higher, with crude prices <CLc1> rising to $49 a
barrel in the United States on Tuesday, though they eased back
slightly on Wednesday.
BP <BP.L> and Cairn Energy <CNE.L> were up 1.9 and 2.3
percent respectively.
Among midcaps, Venture Production <CVPC.L> soared 26 percent
after Centrica <CNA.L> bought a 22 percent stake for 239 million
pounds and said it may make a cash offer for the company.
All nine members of the Bank of England's Monetary Policy
Committee voted this month to launch a 75 billion pound
asset-buying programme and to cut interest rates by 50 basis
points to a record low of 0.5 percent, minutes published on
Wednesday showed. []
Britain's Financial Services Authority will publish on
Wednesday a blueprint for a shake-up of global banking
regulations aimed at preventing a recurrence of the financial
crisis afflicting the world economy. []
The focus later will shift to the outcome of the Federal
Reserve Open Market Committee meeting and whether economic
conditions warrant additional action from U.S. policymakers to
boost lending
(Editing by Dan Lalor)
