Energy firms, banks push FTSE higher

                                
 * FTSE 100 up 0.2 percent
                                
 * Miners, energy stocks firmer
                                
 * Banks gain as risk appetite improves
                                
 
                                
 By Simon Falush
                                
 LONDON, June 16 (Reuters) - Gains in energy stocks and banks
helped push Britain's top share index higher by midday on
Wednesday, with investors buying riskier assets as the outlook
for euro zone debt improved slightly.
                                
 By 1101 GMT, the FTSE 100 <.FTSE> was up 12.35 points, or
0.2 percent, at 5,230.17, pushing the recent rally into a sixth
straight session, its longest winning run since September, after
it ended up 15.69 points, or 0.3 percent, on Tuesday.
                                
 Energy stocks provided most of the fuel for the rally as
crude <CLc1> held around $77 per barrel and touched its highest
level since mid May. Royal Dutch Shell <RDSa.L> stood out with a
rise of 1.5 percent.
                                
 Cairn Energy <CNE.L> added 1 percent. The company received
Greenland government approval for the first of two wells of an
exploration programme.
                                
 Strongly-subscribed government bond auctions on Tuesday in
Ireland, Belgium and Spain helped to allay anxiety on the euro
zone debt situation, which helped drag the FTSE 100 6.6 percent
lower in May.
                                
 The index is down 10 percent since fears on the euro zone
debt crisis escalated and investors noted there was still
reluctance to buy heavily into the market.
                                
 "Volumes are not great which shows there's still a lot of
money on the sidelines and we'll need positive economic and
company news to drive it much higher," said Colin McLean 
managing director at Scottish Value Management in Edinburgh.
                                
 Banks were a big driver of gains as investors moved into
more cyclical stocks.Royal Bank of Scotland <RBS.L> led the
way, up 1.6 percent.
                                
 Miners such as Rio Tinto <RIO.L> and Xstrata <XTA.L> were
mostly stronger, but Lonmin <LMI.L> and Fresnillo <FRES.L> eased
after both were downgraded to "underweight" from "neutral" in a
sector review by JPMorgan.
                                
 
                                
 POWER LIFT
                                
 Aggreko <AGGK.L> was among the top blue-chip gainers, up 1.7
percent after Citigroup upgraded the temporary power supplier to
"buy" from "hold", saying an investor trip to Africa highlighted
its opportunities over the short, medium and long term.
                                
 But fund manager Schroders <SDR.L> was a faller, down 3
percent as Citigroup cut its rating to "sell" from "buy".
                                
 Other fallers included DIY retailer Kingfisher <KGF.L> which
was downgraded to "neutral" from "buy" by BofA Merrill Lynch,
and defensive stocks like Imperial Tobacco <IMT.L>
                                
 Stocks going ex-dividend clipped 1.1 points off the FTSE 100
on Wednesday, with Severn Trent <SVT.L>, United Utilities
<UU.L>, and 3i Group <III.L> losing their payout attractions.
                                
 British consumer confidence fell to its lowest level in
almost a year last month as the election and the prospect of an
emergency budget darkened households' outlook, a survey by the
Nationwide Building Society showed on Wednesday. [ID:nLAG006312]
                                
 The number of people claiming jobless benefits in Britain
fell more than expected in May to its lowest rate in more than a
year, but the wider measure of unemployment continued to climb,
official data showed on Wednesday. [ID:nAHLFHE630]
  (Editing by Mike Nesbit)