* FTSE up 0.1 percent after earlier wobble
* Insurers higher, supported by Prudential
* Miners advance; Xstrata gains on update, stake talk
By Jon Hopkins
LONDON, Oct 21 (Reuters) - Britain's top share index was up
by midday on Tuesday, as gains in energy and insurance stocks
helped the broader market overcome an earlier bout of
profit-taking.
At 1143 GMT, the FTSE 100 index <> was up 6.1 points,
or 0.1 percent, at 4,288.44, down from an early peak of
4,347.69. The blue-chip index closed 219.66 points higher at
4,282.67 on Monday.
"It's not the miners, for a change, which are heading the
market gainers, but a spread of various stocks, which must be a
good sign after recent single-sector led action," said Mark
Priest, trader at ET Capital.
Gas producer BG Group <BG.L> was the largest individual
positive contributor, rising 5.6 percent after an upbeat broker
note, while Royal Dutch Shell <RDSa.L> gained 2.2 percent.
Oil services firm Wood Group <WG.L> rose 3 percent,
shrugging off a dip in the oil price <CLc1>, with Petrofac
<PFC.L> up 6 percent as the sub-sector continued to receive
support following better-than-expected results from U.S. peer
Halliburton <HAL.N> on Monday.
Xstrata <XTA.L> gave the mining sector a boost, rising 8.5
percent on market talk of a possible stake-build, traders said.
Rio Tinto <RIO.L> and BHP Billiton <BLT.L> rose about 3 percent.
Xstrata, which rose by as much as 13 percent when talk
surfaced that Brazil's Vale <VALE5.SA> was interested in
building a near 30 percent stake in the company, declined to
comment on the talk.
The stock was already up following a third-quarter trading
update and the firm's comment that it has no significant debt
refinancing requirements until 2011. []
JITTERS EASE
The London market managed to shake off data that showed a
drop in confidence in the manufacturing sector.
"The market was jittery earlier when Dow futures were being
sold off, but after the CBI report, which was not great but no
big surprise, the FTSE has moved higher," said Priest.
The Confederation of British Industry's quarterly business
situation balance registered -60 in October versus -40 in July,
its lowest level since July 1980.
"What we all need are a few up days to settle the market,"
Priest added, "and if we can get another decent performance from
the U.S. today then we might be on track for a good week."
U.S. stock futures <DJc1>, <SPc1> were pointing to a lower
Wall Street opening following strong gains on Monday.
Insurers rose with Aviva <AV.L> up 9 percent, Legal &
General <LGEN.L> up 7 percent, and RSA Insurance Group <RSA.L>
ahead 5.2 percent, supported by a trading update from peer
Prudential <PRU.L>, which rose 1.6 percent.
Pru said its sales rose 15 percent in the first nine months
of the year, and confirmed it was interested in buying parts of
American International Group's <AIG.N> Asian business.
Banking issues were mixed. Royal Bank of Scotland <RBS.L>
lost 7 percent, paring some of Monday's 23 percent as investors
continued to assess the impact of the government bail-out on the
firm's ability to increase dividends.
HSBC <HSBA.L> also eased, down 3.6 percent, after its move
on Monday to expand in Indonesia with the acquisition of 89
percent of Bank Ekonomi <BAEK.JK>.
HBOS <HBOS.L> was the top percentage gainer on the FTSE 100,
rising 10 percent to recoup some of Monday's losses, helped by
supportive moves by its biggest shareholder Standard Life <SL.L>
on its rescue takeover by Lloyds TSB <LLOY.L>, which rose 0.5
percent.
Other gainers included Tullow Oil <TLW.L>, which rallied 6.5
percent after the firm and its midcap partner, Heritage Oil
<HOIL.L>, which gained 13 percent, unveiled a significant new
oil discovery in Uganda.
(Editing by Quentin Bryar)
