* REITs in demand; British Land jumps on takeover talk
* Miners higher; Goldman ups sector to "attractive"
* Energy firms rise as crude hovers near $71 a barrel
By David Brett
LONDON, Aug 14 (Reuters) - Britain's top share index was 0.3
percent higher at mid-session on Friday, supported by strength
in heavyweight miners and oils and with British Land <BLND.L>,
higher on takeover speculation.
By 1119 GMT, the FTSE 100 <> was up 12.99 points at
4,768.45, having earlier hit a fresh 2009 intraday peak at
4,790.18. The blue-chip index ended at its best closing level
since last October on Thursday.
British Land <BLND.L> extended Thursday's speculative gains,
jumping 4.7 percent after the Daily Telegraph reported the
company was a takeover target for a consortium of some of the
richest families in the world, believed to include Lakshmi
Mittal and Abu Dhabi's ruling family.
The consortium has approached bankers at Credit Suisse to
prepare a possible bid for the property company which could
total up to 10 billion pounds including debt, the newspaper
said.
The report boosted other real estate investment trusts
<REITs), with Hammerson <HMSO.L>, Liberty International <LII.L>
and Land Securities Group <LAND.L> up 2 to 3.7 percent.
"We have been short of M&A (merger and acquisition) activity
and its something we need to support this rally. We need to see
some credible bids," said Paul Kavanagh, partner at Killik & Co.
There was also good news on the state of Britain's housing
market.
Repossessions fell quarter-on-quarter, according to Council
of Mortgage lenders. Meanwhile, courts in England and Wales
issued 31 percent fewer mortgage possession orders year-on-year
in the three months to June, the Ministry of Justice said.
[] []
Commodity issues were in demand. Oil Stocks rallied as crude
stayed around $71 a barrel. Cairn Energy <CNE.L>, BP <BP.L> and
Royal Dutch Shell <RDSa.L> were up 1.3 to 2 percent.
Miners were boosted by economic recovery hopes and with
Goldman Sachs raising its sector stance to "attractive" from
"neutral" and hiking target prices after raising its forecasts
for metal prices.
Kazakhmys <KAZ.L> gained 3.8 percent as Goldman Sachs added
the miner to its pan-European "Conviction Buy" list and pointed
out the stock was the most leveraged to rising copper prices as
global demand for the metal picks up.
Goldman also raised target prices for peers Lonmin <LMI>,
Antofagasta <ANTO.L> and Vedanta Resources <VED.L> which were up
between 1.3 and 2.7 percent.
Vedanta Resources, up 2.1 percent was also supported by news
from The Economic Times that India's federal government will
offer its 49 percent stake in Bharat Aluminium Co (Balco) to
Vedanta Resources' Sterlite Industries business for about 20
billion rupees. []
FINANCIALS PEGGED
Banks were mixed, with Barclays <BARC.L>, Lloyds Banking
Group <LLOY.L> and Royal Bank of Scotland <RBS.L> up 0.8 to 1.6
percent, while HSBC <HSBA.L> bucked the trend to fall 2.6
percent, pulling the sector down overall.
Life insurers pared Thursday's gains, with Prudential, which
posted strong first-half numbers in the last session, down 2.6
percent, and Friends Provident <FP.L>, which on Tuesday agreed
to a takeover by Resolution <RSL.L>, down 2 percent.
Old Mutual <OML.L> and Aviva <AV.L> were off 1.6 and 0.6
percent, respectively.
"No doubt we're in a sentiment driven market and whilst that
remains the current frame of mind, (disappointing) figures will
continue to be brushed aside and we could certainly be looking
towards the 5,000 level," said Kavanagh.
The FTSE 100 index has risen 8 percent so far this year,
and has rebounded 38 percent since hitting an all-time low in
March as improving economic data and corporate earnings fuelled
expectation of an economic recovery.
The macroeconomic focus Friday was on U.S. inflation
numbers, due at 1230 GMT. July CPI is seen up 0.1 percent on the
month, after a 0.7 percent rise in June, with the annualised
rate falling to -1.8 percent from -0.4 percent.
(Editing by Karen Foster)
