* FTSE 100 falters amidst hopes for record 12th day of gains
* BP lower on mixed results
* Pharmaceuticals gain on corporate news and swine flu fears
By David Brett
LONDON, July 28 (Reuters) - Britain's top share index
slipped in mid-session trade on Tuesday, as miners and energy
stocks led the market lower.
By 1027 GMT, the FTSE 100 <> was down 7.21 points, or
0.2 percent, at 4578.92, after closing up 9.52 points on Monday
at 4,586.13, hitting its highest closing level since Jan. 5.
The index has risen 11 percent over the past two weeks on
reassuring U.S. corporate earnings results, and is up over 32
percent since hitting a six-year trough in March.
"As the market stands there has been a lightening up on the
long positions particularly the miners -- although this is seen
as a pause not an opt out strategy," says Manus Cranny, senior
market commentator at MF Global Spreads.
Antofagasta <ANTO.L>, Kazakhmys <KAZ.L>, Eurasian Natural
Resources <ENRC.L>, Lonmin <LMI.L> and Rio Tinto <RIO.L> dropped
between 1.5 and 3 percent.
Xstrata <XTA.L> fell 5.7 percent despite posting an 11
percent rise in first-half production of coal, while copper
output added 1 percent.
"In a way Xstrata's production, whilst positive, is a
sideline as it continues to stalk Anglo American which publishes
results on Friday," says Evolution Securities, which repeats its
"reduce" rating on valuation grounds.
Randgold Resources <RRS.L> fell 3 percent after the gold
miner announced a share offering to fund the development of its
Gounkoto and Massawa projects in Senegal and Mali as it reported
a rise in quarter-on-quarter profits and production.
BP <BP.L> was 1.4 percent down as traders reversed early
gains following slightly mixed second-quarter results.
[]
Collins Stewart says operational recovery has been largely
discounted with the stock now just 6 percent off 12-month highs
in sterling terms.
The rest of energy sector gained as investors cheered as
crude held above $68 a barrel.
BG Group <BG.L> which reports its second-quarter results on
Wednesday, gained 0.3 percent, with Exane BNP Paribas upgrading
the company to "outperform" from "neutral" ahead of the numbers.
Royal Dutch Shell <RDSa.L>, up 0.2 percent, were also
upgraded to "outperform", from "underperform", by Exane BNP
Paribas, ahead of results on Thursday.
Tullow Oil <TLW.L> and Cairn Energy <CNE.L> were 0.2 percent
and 0.7 percent higher respectively.
Mobile heavyweight Vodafone <VOD.L> fell 0.2 percent. The
mobile phone operator holds its annual general meeting on
Tuesday.
DEFENSIVES RISE
Defensive pharmaceutical stocks led the blue chip risers as
corporate news and continuing swine flu fears drove shares
higher.
GlaxoSmithKilne <GSK.L>, up 1.4 percent, struck a deal to
commercialise Amgen's <AMGO.N> experimental osteoporosis drug
denosumab in Europe and emerging markets. []
Shire <SHP.L> rose 0.8 percent after it said it was still
confident of launching its hyperactivity drug Intuniv despite
approval being delayed by U.S. regulators. []
AstraZeneca <AZN.L> was 1.4 percent higher.
Tobacco also gained with British American Tobacco <BATS.L>
up 0.9 percent.
Financial software firm Sage <SGE.L> rises 5.3 percent
following in-line results, which prompts an upgrade by Evolution
Securities to "neutral" from "sell", []
On the economic front, U.S. July consumer confidence will be
a focus this afternoon.
(Editing by Greg Mahlich)
