* Miners, oils up as commodity prices bounce
* UK data mixed; retail sales up; record govt deficit
* Chinese stocks rise sharply, reassuring sentiment
By David Brett
LONDON, Aug 20 (Reuters) - Britain's top share index was 1.3
percent higher mid-session on Thursday in a broad-based rally,
with heavyweight energy and mining stocks adding most points to
the FTSE driven by a jump in demand for raw materials.
By 1036 GMT, the FTSE 100 <> was up 59.48 points at
4,749.15, after reversing earlier losses to close slightly
higher on Wednesday.
The UK benchmark has gained 37 percent since hitting a floor
in early March, and is up 6.8 percent so far this year. However,
volumes on the index have been low on average in August, the
height of the holiday season.
Heavyweight oils were the blue chip index's top picks, with
crude <CLc1> holding above $72 a barrel after industry data on
Thursday showed a steep drop in crude imports and stockpiles in
top consumer the United States.
BP <BP.L>, Royal Dutch Shell <RDSa.L>, BG Group <BG.L>,
Tullow Oil <TLW.L> and Cairn Energy <CNE.L> put on from 0.9 to
2.6 percent.
Miners also joined in the rally as metal prices firmed.
BHP Billiton <BLT.L>, Anglo American <AAL.L>, Xstrata
<XTA.L>, Vedanta Resources <VED.L>, Lonmin <LMI.L> and Kazakhmys
<KAZ.L> were up from 2.3 to 4.8 percent.
Rio Tinto <RIO.L>, the world's second-largest miner, added
1.8 percent after posting a record drop in first-half profit, in
line with market forecasts, and saying it was confident about
the future after a tough 18 months. []
"We have seen investors go back into the riskier assets
after being scared away a little earlier in the week. The miners
and financials are the main winners," said Joshua Raymond,
market strategist at City Index.
Banks also rose with HSBC <HSBA.L>, Royal Bank of Scotland
<RBS.L>, Barclays <BARC.L>, Standard Chartered <STAN.L> and
Lloyds Banking Group <LLOY.L> up 0.8 to 3.2 percent.
UK DATA MIXED
The Office for National Statistics provided a mixed set of
UK data for investors to mull over, with British retail sales up
twice as fast as expected in July, while government borrowing
reached a record deficit last month.
"UK retail sales posted another decent rise in July, but the
dire public finance figures -- which underline the need for tax
rises/spending cuts -- suggest that this resilience will
eventually fade," said Vicky Redwood of Capital Economics.
There were just a handful of fallers in total across the
blue chip index, with broker comment having the most impact.
Diageo <DGE.L> lost 0.8 percent after ING and Evolution
both downgraded the drinks group, while AstraZeneca <AZN.L> and
Capita <CPI.L> both slipped 0.1 percent after Deutsche Bank and
Morgan Stanley cut their ratings.
"Whilst a high percentage of the market heave a sigh of
relief that Andrew Strauss has won the toss (in the fifth and
deciding Ashes cricket match) ... the remainder of equity geeks
will be basking in the glory of the FTSE 100 (gains)," said
David Buik, senior partner at BGC Partners.
U.S. stock index futures <SPc1>, <DJc1>, <NDc1> pointed to a
higher open for Wall Street on Thursday, extending Wednesday's
advance thanks to rallying commodity prices and a rebound by
Shanghai stocks following a sharp two-week sell-off.
Investors will have the latest U.S. weekly jobless claims to
digest at 1230 GMT, together with leading indicators and the
Philadelphia Fed survey, both due at 1400 GMT.
(Editing by Jon Loades-Carter)
