* FTSE 100 off 0.4 pct
* Oils, miners retreat after Friday's gains
* Inmarsat falls on Harbinger stake worry
* Investors await Friday's U.S. September jobs report
By Tricia Wright
LONDON, Oct 4 (Reuters) - Britain's top share index fell on
Monday, hurt by weaker oils and miners, in cautious trade as
investors looked to this week's U.S. jobs report for clues on
the health of the world's top economy.
By 1113 GMT, the FTSE 100 <> was 19.79 points, or 0.4
percent, lower at 5,573.11, after closing up 44.28 points, or
0.8 percent, at 5,592.90 on Friday.
Energy stocks <.FTNMX0530> and miners <.FTNMX1770> handed
back some of the previous session's strong gains.
Inmarsat <ISA.L> shed 2.9 percent, topping the blue-chip
fallers' list, following a media report that U.S. hedge fund
Harbinger Capital is planning to sell a 10 percent stake in the
British satellites operator. []
Harbinger noted the press speculation, but said on Monday
that no decision had yet been taken. []
Strategists said the market should receive fresh direction
from up and coming events.
This week "there's the (U.S.) non-farm payrolls data, there
are the (Bank of England and ECB announcements), and then there
are earnings coming out and relating to a period in which there
was a loss of recovery momentum," Mike Lenhoff, chief strategist
at Brewin Dolphin, said.
Alcoa <AA.N> kicks off the third-quarter U.S. earnings
season on Oct. 7, while on the domestic front, trading updates
from retailers Tesco <TSCO.L>, J Sainsbury <SBRY.L>, and Marks &
Spencer <MKS.L> will feature later in the week.
BANKS MIXED
It was a mixed picture among the banks <.FTNMX8350>. Royal
Bank of Scotland <RBS.L> shed 0.2 percent. The part-state owned
bank has emerged as the bank with the most to lose in the event
that economic laggard Ireland cannot repay its debts, the Daily
Mail said.
Many British banks may need another state bailout next year
and their borrowing requirements could hit 25 billion pounds a
month, the New Economics Foundation thinktank said.
[]
Sticking with financials, Aviva <AV.L> climbed 1.1 percent.
A four-strong group of insurers, including RSA <RSA.L> and
Resolution <RSL.L>, discussed mounting a multibillion pound
break-up bid for Aviva but the talks fizzled out as Resolution
could not reach a valuation it was happy with, The Times said.
On the upside, Wolseley <WOS.L> put on 2.2 percent, topping
the blue-chip leader board, as Credit Suisse started coverage on
the building supplies firm with an "outperform" rating and a
1,855 pence price target, offering 17 percent potential upside
from Friday's closing share price.
On the second tier, Premier Foods <PFD.L> was the biggest
gainer, adding 10.9 percent, after Britain's biggest food
producer said on Sunday it received approaches that could lead
to the sale of its meat-free business, including the Quorn
brand. []
On the economics front, activity in Britain's construction
sector picked up in September, but firms' confidence about the
future fell to an 18-month low on worries about government
spending cuts, a survey of purchasing managers showed.
[]
U.S. stock index futures <SPc1>, <DJc1>, <NDc1> pointed to a
lower open on Wall Street on Monday, ahead of U.S. August
factory goods, durable goods revisions and pending home sales
data, all due at 1400 GMT. Investors' main focus, however, will
be on Friday's U.S. September jobs report.
(Editing by Louise Heavens)
