* FTSE rallies after Friday's losses
* Oil and miners draw strength from rising commodity prices
* Apple, Texas Instruments earnings eyed after market closes
By Harpreet Bhal
LONDON, Oct 19 (Reuters) - Gains in miners and energy firms
pushed Britain's top shares 1.3 percent higher by midday on
Monday, underpinned by firmer commodity prices, while investors
awaited corporate earnings from the United States for further
direction.
At 1049 GMT, the benchmark FTSE 100 <> rose 65.36
points at 5,255.60 reversing losses from Friday when the index
closed back below the 5,200 level after results from Bank of
America <BAC.N> and General Electric <GE.N> disappointed
markets.
Oil majors were buoyed after crude prices <CLc1> hit a
year-high of $79.05 a barrel on Monday, having risen for the
eighth straight session.
BG Group <BG.L>, BP <BP.L>, Royal Dutch Shell <RDSa.L> and
Tullow Oil <TLW.L> all advanced between 0.8 and 1.8 percent.
Mining firms also dominated the gainers list, drawing
strength from higher metals prices which rose on the back of a
weak U.S. dollar. Fresnillo <FRES.L>, Kazakhmys <KAZ.L>, Anglo
American <AAL.L>, Vedanta Resources <VED.L> and Xstrata <XTA.L>
added 3 to 3.7 percent.
The U.S. earnings season is likely to remain the major focus
for investors who will be looking for further signs of recovery
in global demand.
Apple <APPL.O> and Texas Instruments <TXN.N> will report
quarterly earnings after European markets close on Monday.
"Equity markets continue to take their lead from the
earnings season. The earnings to come later this evening... will
help to dictate whether equity markets can push on further from
here," said Joshua Raymond, market strategist at City Index.
The blue-chip index is up 18.7 percent so far this year and
has surged 52 percent since touching a six-year trough in March,
but is still 2.9 percent below its level when Lehman Brothers
collapsed last September.
BANKS FIRMER
Also benefiting from improved risk appetite, banks were
broadly higher, with Barclays <BARC.L>, HSBC <HSBA.L> and
Standard Chartered <STAN.L> up 1.1 to 1.8 percent.
However, the part-nationalised banks missed out, with Lloyds
Banking Group <LLOY.L> down 0.5 percent while Royal Bank of
Scotland <RBS.L> was flat.
Aviva <AV.L> fell 1.4 percent after the firm said it expects
to pocket 1.2 billion euros for future growth after the
flotation of Dutch unit Delta Lloyd later this year, with
investors concerned by what the insurer might do with the cash.
[]
Telecoms firm Cable & Wireless <CW.L> was also a notable
blue chip faller, down 0.7 percent after Citigroup cut its
rating on the stock to "hold" from "buy" in a sector review.
Defensive utility firms Centrica <CNA.L>, Severn Trent
<SVT.L> and United Utilities Group <UU.L> shed 0.1 to 0.4
percent.
Among the mid caps, bus and rail group National Express
<NEX.L> shares jumped 9.1 percent after Stagecoach <SGC.L>
confirmed it has approached its rival about a possible merger in
a deal which was valued by the Sunday Telegraph at 1.65 billion
pounds. Stagecoach fell 0.3 percent.
In a sign of improvement in the British economy, property
Web site Rightmove said house prices in England and Wales rose
for the first time in more than a year in October, buoyed by a
dearth of properties coming onto the market. []
Meanwhile, the rise in British business failures is set to
end early in 2010 as the UK economy returns to growth and
financial strain on businesses eases, according to a report from
accountants and business advisors BDO. []
However, in contrast to the upbeat view on the economy,
Monetary Policy Committee member Adam Posen said in a newspaper
interview on Sunday that the Bank of England must continue its
policy of quantitative easing because the financial system has
yet to recover fully. []
In another negative assessment of the prospects for economic
growth, the Ernst & Young ITEM Club's autumn forecast said
British GDP growth will struggle to hit 1 percent in 2010, while
showing weak growth in the second half of 2009. []
