(Corrects paragraph seven to show March trough for index was a
six-year low, not an all-time one)
* FTSE 100 up 1 percent bolstered by banks
* Commodity stocks lifted by stronger metal, energy prices
* UK Q2 GDP revised to -5.5 pct from -5.6 pct
By Simon Falush
LONDON, August 28 (Reuters) - Commodity stocks and banks led
a broad rally for Britain's top share index, up 1 percent by
midday on Friday as it looked to end the month on a high note
after two days of losses.
By 1038 GMT the FTSE 100 <> was up 47.57 points at
4,916.92 after it closed down 0.4 percent, or 21.23 points, on
Thursday.
Miners led the rebound as metal prices moved higher. Rio
Tinto <RIO.L>, Xstrata <XTA.L>, Lonmin <LMI.L>, Anglo American
<AAL.L>, Kazakhmys <KAZ.L> and Fresnillo <FRES.L> added 1.8 to
4.8 percent.
"The rally is being led by resources stocks but there's more
breadth in the market with banks and telecoms also stronger, and
that's why we're really adding points to the index," said Rob
Griffiths, strategist at Cazenove.
Energy stocks were also a strong positive for the index as
crude gained over 1 percent to rise above $73 per barrel <CLc1>.
BP <BP.L>, Royal Dutch Shell <RDSa.L>, BG Group <BG.L>, Tullow
Oil <TLW.L> and Cairn Energy <CNE.L> added between 0.1 and 1.5
percent.
"Basic resources have gained strongly, but I think the next
sector that has quite a bit of upside is oil and gas so I don't
think the FTSE will have any problems passing 5,000," Griffiths
said.
The blue-chip index is up 6.3 percent in August and has
rallied 41.5 percent since hitting its lowest in over six years
in March.
It is up 10.5 percent so far this year, boosted as
confidence grows that the economy is emerging from recession and
as corporate earnings improved.
BUOYANT BANKS
Banks, which tend to thrive when the broader market is in
positive territory, were mostly firmer.
Barclays <BARC.L>, Standard Chartered <STAN.L>, Royal Bank
of Scotland <RBS.L> and Lloyds Banking Group <LLOY.L> added 2.4
to 4.5 percent, though HSBC <HSBA.L> put on just 0.1 percent.
However, while there is broad optimism that things are
improving for the economy, data continues to paint a fairly
gloomy picture.
GDP data, while slightly better than forecast, showed
Britain deep in recession in the second quarter.
The annual drop in economic output was revised to 5.5
percent from 5.6 percent, but it remained the sharpest
year-on-year fall since records began in 1955. []
British consumer sentiment was unchanged for a third
successive month in August and shoppers showed continued caution
about the economy, according to a survey by pollsters GfK NOP
for the European Commission. []
The U.S. Federal Reserve's preferred measure of inflation
will be released at 1230 GMT, with July U.S. personal
consumption seen up 0.2 percent, after a 0.4 percent increase in
June, while personal income was seen up 0.1 percent in July
after a 1.3 percent fall in June.
Investors will also eye the final reading for the August
University of Michigan consumer sentiment index at 1355 GMT,
with the figure seen at 64.0 versus 66.0 in July.
With no heavy fallers in the blue-chip index, SVG Capital
<SVI.L> and Heritage Oil <HOIL.L> were notable mid-cap laggards.
SVG fell 8 percent after the private equity firm said its
portfolio slumped by almost a fifth in value in the first six
months of the year.
Heritage Oil lost 3.6 percent knocked by news of a probe by
the Financial Services Authority that could hinder plans to
merge with Genel Energy International.
(Reporting by Simon Falush; Editing by John Stonestreet)
