* FTSE 100 up 0.1 percent
* Banks firm, helped by upbeat BarCap, JPMorgan comment
* Burberry gains on Saudi Alhokair joint venture
* Analysts positive on longer-term outlook for equities
By Tricia Wright
LONDON, March 28 (Reuters) - Banking stocks boosted by
upbeat broker comment lifted Britain's top share index into
positive territory on Monday.
By 1118 GMT, the FTSE 100 <> was 4.30 points, or 0.1
percent, higher at 5,905.06, on track for a four-session winning
streak. It closed up 0.3 percent on Friday.
The index is almost flat on the year, with some of the gains
seen in February erased by worries over the euro zone debt
crisis, political turmoil in the Arab world and the aftermath of
the earthquake in Japan.
Peter Dixon, an economist at Commerzbank, said that while
markets have not lost sight of these events, they are starting
to re-focus their attention, with "reasonably healthy" earnings
numbers and favourable valuations underpinning his positive
long-term view on equities.
"I think there's a general sense that markets are beginning
to take the events of Japan in their stride and we will start to
see a bit more of a focus on market fundamentals," he said.
"Given that we had a fairly positive view in the first
place, (these fundamentals) suggest that hopefully we will start
to make up a lot of the ground that we have lost in the course
of the last week or two."
The UK blue chip index carries a 12-month forward
price-to-earnings ratio of 9.8 times, slightly cheaper than the
broader STOXX Europe 600's 10.2 times, Thomson Reuters
Datastream showed, though FTSE 100 companies are expected to
post an average 19.9-percent rise in earnings this year,
compared with a 14.7 percent gain for STOXX Europe 600
companies.
BANKS SUPPORT
Banks <.FTNMX8350> added the most points to the FTSE 100 on
bullish comment from Barclays Capital and JPMorgan.
Barclays Capital said it has looked at 11 of Europe's
largest banks and all are trading at a discount to
sum-of-their-parts valuations, calculating that around 150
billion euros are missing from their market caps, although it
adds the banks usually trade at a discount.
JPMorgan reiterated its "overweight" stance on banks, "a
sector which will benefit from lower cost of capital, was the
worst performer in the last 6-12 months but is attractively
priced and will be supported by a recovery in credit demand."
Among individual stocks, Burberry <BRBY.L> was among the top
blue-chip performers, 1.9 percent ahead, after Saudi-based
retailer Fawaz Abdulaziz Alhokair Co <4240.SE> said it had
agreed to set up a joint venture with the British luxury goods
group to market and sell its products.
Traders were cautiously optimistic about the FTSE 100 in the
short term, which may be building momentum after an advance of
3.2 percent over the course of last week, its best weekly
performance since early November.
"Not suprisingly after last week's rally traders are not
rushing to buy today as they take stock of the current levels,"
Mic Mills, head of electronic trading at ETX Capital, said.
"(While these gains have) made them more confident... they
want to see these levels maintained for a while before we go
charging on to higher levels," he added.
(Additional reporting by Dominic Lau and David Brett;
Editing by David Cowell)
