* Miners, banks higher, helped by broker upgrades
* Energy stocks weak on lower crude prices
* U.S. non-farm payrolls awaited at 1330 GMT
By Harpreet Bhal
LONDON, Jan 8 (Reuters) - Gains in banks and mining firms
offset weaker oil majors to help Britain's top share index edge
up slightly by mid-session on Friday as investors awaited the
release of a key jobs report from the United States.
At 1152 GMT the FTSE 100 <> was up 2.67 points at
5,529.39.
A series of broker upgrades helped provide some direction to
equities, with Eurasian Natural Resources <ENRC.L> up 5.2
percent, topping the blue chip gainers after an upgrade by
broker RBS to "buy" from "hold" in a sector review.
Among the broker's top picks in the sector were Xstrata
<XTA.L>, Vedanta Resources <VED.L> and Rio Tinto <RIO.L>, which
gained 0.4 to 1.7 percent. RBS also raised targets for the trio.
Investors were awaiting December's U.S. non-farm payrolls
data, due at 1330 GMT, to gauge the health of the economy after
November's surprisingly small decline of 11,000 jobs.
Economists polled by Reuters expect payrolls to remain
unchanged from the previous month.
"The numbers are more important than ever because we had
such a surprise in November and people are going to see whether
it was just a blip or did it really mark the end of some slowing
down in unemployment in the States," said David Jones, chief
market strategist at IG Index.
"It could be a volatile afternoon on the back of those
numbers," he said.
Within the banking sector, Barclays <BARC.L> was the
standout gainer, up 2.2 percent after UBS upgraded its
recommendation on the lender to "buy" from "neutral", saying it
was the only member of its international peer group trading
below its book value.
Royal Bank of Scotland <RBS.L> added 0.9 percent after it
said Aberdeen Asset Management <ADN.L> will pay around 85
million pounds for RBS's non-core asset management business.
[].
Aberdeen Asset shares shed 3 percent with the asset manager
funding the acquisition with a share placing, and at the same
time reporting a 1.4 percent fall in assets under management.
HSBC <HSBA.L>, Lloyds Banking Group <LLOY.L> and Standard
Chartered <STAN.L> were up 0.3 to 0.9 percent.
On the downside, energy stocks were weaker, tracking softer
crude prices <CLc1>. BP <BP.L>, BG Group <BG.L>, Royal Dutch
Shell <RDSa.L> and Tullow Oil <TLW.L> shed 0.5 to 1.4 percent.
Man Group <EMG.L> was the heaviest faller, down 1.8 percent
after Morgan Stanley cut its rating on the hedge fund manager to
"equal-weight" from "overweight", and reduced its target price
and EPS estimates for the firm.
Among mid-cap stocks, pubs and restaurants group Mitchells &
Butlers <MAB.L> climbed 7.1 percent after the company said it
had seen strong trading over the Christmas and New Year period.
[].
Peers Punch Taverns <PUB.L> and Wetherspoon <JDW.L> rose 3.6
and 3.9 percent respectively, with strength in the pubs sector
helping the FTSE 250 index <> gain 0.6 percent.
Earlier in the session data showed British factory gate
inflation rose more than expected in December and at its fastest
annual rate in nearly a year mainly driven by a two-thirds rise
in crude prices over the year. []
After the jobs report U.S. November consumer credit numbers
are due at 1500 GMT.
(Reporting by Harpreet Bhal; Editing by Greg Mahlich)
