* HSBC recovers after results slide
* Oils, miners gain as commodity prices steady
* Prudential weighed by AIG deal, cash call
By Jon Hopkins
LONDON, March 2 (Reuters) - Britain's leading shares gained
0.8 percent by midday on Tuesday, buoyed by firmer commodity
issues and by banks, with HSBC <HSBA.L> recovering its poise
after sell-offing in the prior session on disappointing results.
At 1158 GMT, the FTSE 100 <> index was 44.39 points
higher at 5,450.33, close to a six-week peak.
"The move through 5,400 in recent days is another hurdle
passed and leaves us looking at the highs for the year, with
5,600 as the obvious target," said Anthony Grech, market
strategist at IG Index.
"It could well be a bumpy ride but for now investors seem
happy to position themselves for more gains," he said.
Banks were the best performing blue-chip sector, with HSBC
recovering 1.6 percent after its sharp fall on Monday which
followed below-forecast results.
Standard Chartered <STAN.L>, set to post full-year numbers
on Wednesday, advanced 2.2 percent, while Royal Bank of Scotland
<RBS.L>, Lloyds Banking Group <LLOY.L> and Barclays <BARC.L>
gained 1.6-3.0 percent.
Oil majors also provided support for the blue chips, with
Royal Dutch Shell <RDSa.L>, BG Group <BG.L>, Cairn Energy
<CNE.L> and Tullow Oil <TLW.L> adding 0.2-0.8 percent as the
crude price <CLc1> pushed back towards $79 a barrel.
BP <BP.L>, however, slipped 0.1 percent. The company is to
form a joint venture with privately owned Lewis Energy to
exploit Lewis's Eagle Ford shale gas assets, in a deal worth
around $200 million, a source familiar with the matter said.
Miners were higher. Mexican silver miner Fresnillo <FRES.L>
stood out, gaining 2.0 percent after posting a forecast-beating
141 percent rise in 2009 profit on higher prices and stronger
output. []
Elsewhere, a slight dip by metals prices was offset by a
bullish review from Nomura, which raised targets across the
sector. Anglo American <AAL.L>, Rio Tinto <RIO.L>, BHP Billiton
<BLT.L> and Antofagasta <ANTO.L> added 0.3-0.8 percent.
But Vedanta Resources <VED.L> missed out, shedding 3.8
percent after launching a $775 million convertible bond issue.
Among individual gainers, British Airways <BAY.L> rose 4.2
percent following positive results from fellow carriers
Continental Airlines <CAL.N> and Lufthansa <LHAG.DE>, while an
industry body said the recovery in global demand for air traffic
was gathering pace.
Chipmaker ARM Holdings <ARM.L> also saw good support, ahead
3.3 percent and supported by an upbeat outlook statement from
SanDisk <SNDK.O> and by a bullish note on the sector from UBS.
U.S. stock futures <>, <SPc1>, <NDc1> pointed to a
higher open on Wall Street on Tuesday after good gains in the
previous session helped by the SanDisk results.
PRU PRUNED
Life insurer Prudential <PRU.L> was the biggest blue-chip
loser, down 6.1 percent, extending Monday's falls following its
move to buy American International Group's <AIG.N> Asian arm for
$35.5 billion, funded by a $21 billion rights issue.
Motor insurer Admiral Group <ADML.L> was also under
pressure, down 2.3 percent after in-line full-year results
failed to excite, with KBC Peel Hunt prompted to cut its rating
to 'hold' from 'buy'. []
Sterling remained a drag on investor sentiment as the
currency recovered slightly but still remained jittery after
hitting a 10-month low on Monday on concerns the pending British
general election would result in a hung parliament.
Polls over the weekend suggested Gordon Brown's ruling
Labour party may just hang on for another term, as the
opposition Conservatives saw their lead cut back, with neither
looking likely to secure a parliamentary majority.
For an analysis on the ramifactions for markets of a hung
parliament, click on []
(Editing by Dan Lalor)
