* FTSE 100 up 1.4 pct
* Miners, oils in demand as commodity prices rise
* Banks bounce back after Friday's falls
* U.S. stock index futures up
By Tricia Wright
LONDON, Aug 9 (Reuters) - Strong commodity stocks helped
drive Britain's top share index higher by midday on Monday,
buoyed by firmer oil and metals prices, while banks also notched
up good gains, rallying after falls in the previous session.
By 1110 GMT, the FTSE 100 <> was up 76.39 points, or
1.4 percent, at 5,408.78, after it closed down 0.6 percent on
Friday.
"We are seeing a lot of speculative buys on optimism that
the Fed, when they start meeting tomorrow, will announce some
extra stimulus measures to help maintain the U.S. recovery,"
said Joshua Raymond, market strategist at City Index.
Miners advanced, bouncing back in the wake of declines in
the previous session, buoyed by metals prices boosted by a
softer U.S. dollar.
Lonmin <LMI.L> and Antofagasta <ANTO.L> were the best off,
both up 1.9 percent.
Among integrated oil stocks, BP <BP.L> was the top
performer, rising 1.8 percent, after it said on Sunday its
pressure testing shows it has "an effective cement plug" on its
Macondo oil well in the Gulf of Mexico.
Royal Dutch Shell <RDSa.L> and BG Group <BG.L> both added
1.3 percent, as the crude price <CLc1> climbed 1.1 percent.
Oil services firm Petrofac <PFC.L> rose 1.9 percent after it
was awarded a $430 million contract by Kuwait Oil Company.
BANKS BOUNCE BACK
Banks, which reported results last week, were higher as a
sector, recovering after Friday's falls. Barclays <BARC.L> put
on 2.4 percent, HSBC <HSBA.L> and Standard Chartered <STAN.L>
both added 1.4 percent, while Lloyds Banking Group <LLOY.L> rose
1.1 percent.
Royal Bank of Scotland <RBS.L>, however, missed out on the
rally, shedding 1.2 percent.
Buyers also came in for insurers. Legal & General <LGEN.L>
grabbed the top spot on the blue-chip leader board, up 3.3
percent, boosted by a price target hike from Deutsche Bank in
the wake of its first-half results last week.
Old Mutual <OML.L>, which also posted first-half results
last week, added 2.4 percent, aided as UBS lifted its target
price for the firm.
And Aviva <AV.L> rose 2.2 percent as both BofA Merrill Lynch
and Panmure Gordon lifted their target prices for the company
following its first-half results last week.
Prudential <PRU.L>, set to unveil its first-half results on
Thursday, put on 2.6 percent.
Fund firm Schroders <SDR.L> climbed 2.8 percent after BofA
Merrill Lynch lifted its target price after last week's
first-half results.
International Power <IPR.L> advanced 2.5 percent. The
British utility and French rival GDF Suez <GSZ.PA> could
announce an agreement on a planned asset tie-up in coming days,
British newspapers reported on Sunday, with both companies due
to report first-half results on Tuesday.
U.S. stock index futures <DJc1> <SPc1> pointed to a higher
open for Wall Street on Monday. After Friday's U.S. July jobs
report, investors will only have the U.S. July employment index
data to digest on Monday.
All eyes will be on the latest Federal Reserve rate
decision, due after the London market close on Tuesday, although
no change is expected to U.S. monetary policy yet.
(Editing by Jon Loades-Carter)
