* Supermarkets gain on strong sales guidance from Morrison
* Non-food retailers struggle, Next slips
* Miners, defensive stocks well-bid
By David Brett
LONDON, July 21 (Reuters) - Upbeat earnings from Wm Morrison
<MRW.L> drove strength in supermarkets, buoying investor
confidence and helping Britain's top share index rise for a
seventh straight day, with miners also adding to gains.
By 1019 GMT the FTSE 100 <> was up 30.20 points or 0.7
percent, at 4,473.82 after it ended 54.87 points, or 1.3 percent
higher on Monday to close at 4,443.62, its highest close since
June 11.
"Buyers still have the upper hand," said Philip Gillet,
Sales Trader IG Index. "If we see the FSTE 100 decisively break
through the 4500 mark it sets up the year's highs at 4700 as the
next target."
Wm Morrison <MRW.L> was the top riser, adding 9.8 percent
after Britain's fourth largest supermarket group said it
expected full-year results to be ahead of expectations.
"The group's cost conscious ethos continues to deliver,"
Keith Bowman, Equity Analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown Stockbrokers
said.
Tesco <TSCO.L> and Sainsbury <SBRY.L> also traded higher
gaining 1.8 and 2.8 percent, respectively.
Miners added most points to the index as metal prices held
well above July lows <MCU3=LX>.
Antofagasta <ANTO.L>, Rio Tinto <RIO.L>, Anglo American
<AAL.L>, Eurasion Natural Resources <ENRC.L> and BHP Billiton
<BLT.L> added between 0.6 and 2 percent.
Oils were mixed as crude softened but continued to hover
around the $64 mark.
Royal Dutch Shell <RDSa.L>, Tullow Oil <TWL.L> and Cairn
Energy <CNE.L> rose up to 1.3 percent, while BP <BP.L> and BG
Group <BG.L> fell 0.2 and 0.8 percent respectively.
Defensive stocks were also well-bid as investors rotated
holdings into more recession proof areas after booking gains in
cyclical companies like commodity plays and banks.
British American Tobacco <BATS.L>, pharmaceutical giant
GlaxoSmithKline <GSK.L> and medical equipment manufacturer Smith
& Nephew <SN.L> added 0.6-2.2 percent.
"There are some early signs that traders are happy to bank
windfall profits at these levels," said Gillet.
U.S. EARNINGS DUE
Other stocks remained becalmed as traders bided their time
ahead of U.S. earnings figures due later on Tuesday.
Eyes will be on a raft of corporate earnings from major U.S.
companies, with Yahoo <YHOO.O>, Apple <AAPL.O>, Coca-Cola <KO>,
Merck <MRK> and DuPont <DD> reporting.
The U.S. Federal Reserve has plenty of tools to push
borrowing costs up when the economy recovers, Chairman Ben
Bernanke said, while his counterparts in Australia turned more
upbeat on the outlook for global growth. []
Non-food retailers struggled as Next <NXT.L> fell 2.3
percent despite raising profit guidance, as investors booked
profits after recent gains and its chief executive warned of the
risk of swine flu on consumer behaviour. []
Kingfisher <KGF.L> and Marks and Spencer <MKS.L> lost 2.6
percent and 0.8 percent respectively.
Friends Provident <FP.L> was one of the heaviest fallers,
down 1.3 percent after it rejected a revised offer from
Resolution <RSL.L>, saying the financial buyout firm's structure
were "totally inappropriate" for a public company. []
(Editing by Dan Lalor)
