* FTSE snaps 5-day winning run in holiday-thinned volumes
* Miners, oils ease after strong gains
* Defensive pharma, tobacco stocks in demand
By Simon Falush
LONDON, Dec 30 (Reuters) - Britain's top share index fell 0.6
percent by midday on Wednesday, weighed down by weaker miners,
retreating from a level in the previous session not seen since
the October 2008 collapse of Lehman Brothers.
By 1158 GMT, the FTSE 100 <> index was down 30.73
points, or 0.6 percent, at 5,406.88 after gaining 0.7 percent on
Tuesday to post a fifth consecutive gain.
Miners were the biggest drag on the index in spite of firm
base metal prices, retreating from sharp gains in the previous
session.
Lonmin <LMI.L>, Rio Tinto <RIO.L>, Xstrata <XTA.L>, Anglo
American <AAL.L>, Rangold Resources <RRS.L> and BHP Billiton
<BLT.L> fell 0.9 to 1.5 percent.
The FTSE 100 is up 22 percent this year, on track for its
biggest annual gain since 1997, and has soared 56 percent since
touching a six-year trough in March.
"(The period leading up to the festive break) has been a
cracker... but there's a bit of nervousness and disbelief that
markets have risen so far and there is a suspicion that the
profit takers would come in," said Jim Wood-Smith, head of
research at Williams de Broe.
Volumes were very thin with many market participants off for
the festive period with just 14 percent of the average of the
last 90 trading days transacted by midsession.
Oil majors BG Group <BG.L>, BP <BP.L> and Royal Dutch Shell
<RDSa.L> shed 0.6 to 1.6 percent as crude prices <CLc1> held
below the $79 a barrel level.
Banks retreated, with the financial sector pressured by a
report in the Wall Street Journal that GMAC Financial Services
is close to getting about $3.5 billion in extra aid from the
U.S. government on top of the $12.5 billion already received
since September 2008.
Barclays <BARC.L>, HSBC <HSBA.L>, Standard Chartered
<STAN.L>, Royal Bank of Scotland <RBS.L> and Lloyds Banking
Group <LLOY.L> fell 0.1 to 2.9 percent.
Gains by defensively perceived stocks helped limit losses,
with heavyweight drugs and tobacco stocks in demand.
British American Tobacco <BATS.L> and Imperial Tobacco
<IMT.L> gained 0.6 and 0.5 percent, respectively, while
GlaxoSmithKline <GSK.L> and AstraZeneca <AZN.L> were up 0.2 and
0.6 percent, respectively.
Among individual gainers, Petrofac <PFC.L> added 1.4 percent
after the oil services company won its first contract in
Turkmenistan.
In a tentative sign that a recession ravaged domestic UK
economy is on the mend, house prices in England and Wales rose
0.9 percent on the month in November, leaving prices 0.3 percent
lower than a year ago, government data showed [].
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said on Wednesday, in
excerpts from his New Year message, his priority for 2010, an
election year, is to secure economic recovery while cutting
Britain's gaping budget deficit in a "sensible and fair" way.
[]
Across the Atlantic, December Chicago PMI numbers should be
of interest at 1445 GMT, with a reading of 55.0 expected, down
from 56.1 in November.
Ahead of that, investors will also have an eye on the latest
U.S. mortgage and refinancing indexes.
(Additional reporting by Jon Hopkins; editing by Simon Jessop)
