* FTSE 100 ticks down 0.2 pct
* Firmer commodity prices boost energy stocks, miners
* Banks HSBC, Standard weigh; eyes on U.S. $700 bln rescue
package
(For a TAKE A LOOK on U.S. bailout plan, click on
[])
By Dominic Lau
LONDON, Sept 22 (Reuters) - Britain's top share index ticked
down by midday on Monday as weakness in banks HSBC <HSBA.L> and
Standard Chartered <STAN.L> offset gains in miners and energy
stocks.
By 1112 GMT, the FTSE 100 <> was down 12.5 points, or
0.2 percent at 5,298.8, after rallying 8.8 percent on Friday --
its largest ever daily percentage gain -- on hopes a U.S.
government plan for toxic debt and on a ban on short-selling
financial stocks.
The UK benchmark, however, was still down 1.9 percent last
week after Lehman Brothers <LEHMQ.PK> filed for bankruptcy
protection, insurer AIG <AIG.N> required a bailout from the U.S.
authorities and Bank of America <BAC.N> took over Merrill Lynch
<MER.N>.
"Regardless of the U.S. package, there are a number of
factors that haven't gone away. There is the concern about the
slowdown in the U.S. economy and indeed the UK economy, there is
a question mark as to whether inflation has peaked, or whether
we are getting into a deflationary environment," said Richard
Hunter, head of UK equities at Hargreaves Lansdown.
Energy stocks rose along with firmer crude prices <CLc1>,
which were up above $106 a barrel. The FTSE 350 oil and gas
index <.FTNMX0530> advanced 1.7 percent.
BP <BP.L>, Royal Dutch Shell <RDSa.L>, BG Group <BG.L>,
Cairn Energy <CNE.L> and Tullow Oil <TLW.L> rose between 0.7 and
2.4 percent.
Miners were also in demand, lifted by higher metal prices.
BHP Billiton <BLT.L>, Rio Tinto <RIO.L>, Xstrata <XTA.L>,
Vedanta Resources <VED.L>, Kazakhmys <KAZ.L>, Eurasian Natural
Resources <ENRC.L> and Antofagasta <ANTO.L> were up 1.8 to 5.3
percent.
The main drag on the index were the two banks HSBC <HSBA.L>,
down 3.6 percent and Standard Chartered <STAN.L>, down 3.8
percent.
But Barclays <BARC.L> advanced 1.2 percent. A person
familiar with the matter said the UK bank would bid for parts of
Lehman Brothers' European business after buying Lehman's core
U.S. broker-dealer business in a $1.75 billion deal last week.
And Lloyds TSB <LLOY.L> put on 1.4 percent after the
Independent on Sunday said the lender was looking for property
agents to oversee the closure of 700 high street branches once
its planned takeover of HBOS <HBOS.L> completes. HBOS was down
1.2 percent.
BRADFORD & BINGLEY RISES
Mid-cap Bradford & Bingley <BB.L> soared 8.1 percent after
the Sunday Telegraph said the UK Financial Services Authority
has contacted three global banks to discuss a takeover of the
troubled buy-to-let lender.
U.S. government officials and Congress on Sunday ramped up
talks on an unprecedented $700 billion bank bailout as they
battled the clock to prevent further financial market turmoil
that risks hurtling the economy into a deep recession.
"We do not believe it is a viable standalone entity," the
broker said in a note, adding that it remoed its price target
and kept its "underweight" rating.
"We still have a long way to go because the package has got
to be approved by Congress. It mainly pertains to the U.S.
rather than to the UK," said Jeremy Batstone-Carr, head of
private client research at Charles Stanley.
"The U.S. authorities are trying very hard to encourage
other governments throughout the world to do something similar.
We will wait and see how much success they have with that."
Batstone-Carr said concerns were switching to the U.S.
fiscal position, with the dollar falling against the yen and the
euro.
Wolseley <WOS.L> leapt nearly 11 percent after the building
materials distributor kicked off a review of its U.S. Stock
Building Supply arm and pledged to stay within its banking
covenants.
Vodafone <VOD.L> shed 1.9 percent. The European Commission
is set to adopt proposals on Tuesday to cap the cost of sending
text messages from one EU state to another and for using a
mobile phone or laptop to surf the Web while on the move.
(Editing by Greg Mahlich)
