* Oils, miners fall; metal prices lower on demand fears
* Banks lower; Greece, Dubai debt fears resurface
* ICAP down; scales back Asia, Europe business
By David Brett
LONDON, March 22 (Reuters) - Britain's top share index shed
0.9 percent by midday Monday as commodities and banks were
weighed by fears that recent monetary tightening moves seen in
China and India could stifle the fragile economic recovery.
By 1130 GMT, the FTSE 100 <> was down 47.98 points at
5,602.14, having closed at its highest level since June 25 2008
on Friday.
The UK blue-chip index has gained over 10 percent since the
start of February, but retreated as an unexpected interest rate
hike in India spurred fresh fears that withdrawals of economic
stimulus could curtail global growth.
"The rate hike from India came as a bit of a shock," said
Joshua Raymond, market strategist at City Index.
"When you align this decision with recent moves by China to
cool excessive growth there too, the emerging markets picture is
developing into one of concern that it could slow the wider
economic recovery."
The India move led to a fall in metal and oil prices, which
retreated on demand worries, and as the dollar -- seen as a safe
haven in uncertain times -- strengthened.
Among the miners, Eurasian Natural Resources <ENRC.L>,
Vedanta Resources <VED.L>, Kazakhmys <KAZ.L> and Xstrata <XTA.L>
fell 2 percent to 2.5 percent.
Meanwhile, oil majors BG Group <BG.L>, Royal Dutch Shell
<RDSa.L> and BP <BP.L> shed 1.1 to 1.9 percent.
Banks were weaker as Greece and Dubai debt matters
resurfaced. Barclays <BARC.L>, Standard Chartered <STAN.L>,
Lloyds Banking Group <LLOY.L> and HSBC <HSBA.L> were 0.7 percent
to 1.4 percent lower.
EU leaders seemed at odds over how or whether to offer
assistance to Athens, setting the scene for a tense summit on
March 25-26 and fuelling doubts over whether euro zone states
will agree to any support package. <ID:nLDE62K0M6>.
Meanwhile, state-owned conglomerate Dubai World []
is expected to propose a $26 billion debt restructuring plan to
its creditors imminently, in a move seen as a test of the
emirate's ability to honour commitments. []
ICAP WOES
ICAP <IAP.L> topped the blue chip fallers list, dropping 2.9
percent after the inter-dealer broker said it will scale back
its cash equities business in Europe and Asia, with a pretax
charge of 51 million pounds ($76.23 million). []
Building materials supplier Wolseley <WOS.L> fell 2.4
percent after saying it would remain cautious for the rest of
the year and focus on controlling costs after seeing trading
profit fall 34 percent in the first half.
Drug stocks looked unfazed by legislation overhauling the
U.S. healthcare system, with an expected hit to earnings from
2011 offset by the long-term gain of extending sales to millions
more Americans. Crucially, the U.S. government will not impose
drug price caps. []
AstraZeneca <AZN.L> gained 1 percent, while GlaxoSmithKline
<GSK.L> rose 0.2 percent and Shire <SHP.L> added 0.1 percent.
South African investment bank and asset manager Investec
<INVP.L> climbed 1.5 percent on its first day as FTSE 100
company after replacing insurance-focused takeover vehicle
Resolution <RSL.L>.
Technology firm Smiths Group <SMIN.L> topped the FTSE 100
risers chart, up 1.6 percent after the company bought Kansas
City-based Interconnect Devices for $185 million in an all-cash
deal. []
Selected defensive firms were on the front foot as risk
appetite waned, with British American Tobacco <BATS.L> and
consumer goods group Reckitt Benckiser <RB.L> each 0.4 percent
higher.
There are no important UK economic pointers due on Monday,
ahead of the pre-election budget due on Wednesday.
(Editing by Rupert Winchester)
