* Energy stocks gain on firmer oil price
* Banks softer, Lloyds offer closes
* Pharmaceuticals gain
By Simon Falush
LONDON, May 20 (Reuters) - Britain's FTSE 100 <> index
slipped 0.2 percent by midday on Wednesday as weakness in banks
outweighed gains in energy stocks buoyed by the firmer crude
price.
By 1048 GMT the FTSE 100 was down 10.97 points at 4,471.28
after closing 0.8 percent higher at 4,482.25 on Tuesday. The
index is up 1.3 percent on the year and has rallied almost 30
percent since its trough set on March 9.
But moves on Wednesday were muted as the index swung between
negative and positive territory and analysts said investors
awaiting more newsflow to give the market direction.
"There's a lack of newsflow, and investors are being fickle
so it won't take too much to push sentiment from being bearish
to being bullish," said James Hughes, market analyst at CMC
markets.
Lloyds Banking Group <LLOY.L> fell 5.9 percent from its
adjusted price after the right to take part in a 4 billion pound
fund raising and buy more shares at a substantial discount
expired on Tuesday.
Lloyds shares closed on Tuesday at 100.3 pence, which was
adjusted to 76.6 pence to account for the share offer
entitlement.
Other banks were also weaker. HSBC <HSBA.L>, Standard
Chartered <STAN.L>, Barclays <BARC.L> fell 1.8 to 3.2 percent.
British manufacturing orders fell slightly more than
expected in May, but firms were more upbeat about the future
than at any time since last September, a survey from the
Confederation of British Industry showed. []
Commodity stocks gained, tracking firmer crude prices
<CLc1>.
Energy stocks BP <BP.L>, Royal Dutch Shell <RDSa.L>, BG
Group <BG.L>, Tullow Oil <TLW.L> and Cairn Energy <CNE.L> added
0.9-1.9 percent.
Experian <EXPN.L> rose 3.8 percent after the credit
information firm reported an 8 percent increase in full-year
operating profit, beating market expectations. []
REELING RETAILERS
Retailers slid, adding to the previous session's losses
after high street chain Marks & Spencer <MKS.L> reported a 40
percent slide in full-year profits, denting sentiment on
prospects for consumer focused stocks.
Marks & Spencer fell 2.6 percent adding to Tuesday's 8
percent fall and Sainsbury <SBRY.L> and Home Retail <HOME.L>
fell 4.2 and 4.3 percent respectively.
Heavyweight mobile telephone group Vodafone <VOD.L> slid 2.8
percent after Fitch Ratings changed the outlook on the long term
issuer default rating to "negative" from "stable".
Data showing the worst ever contraction in Japan's economy
in the first quarter limited the rise on Japan's Nikkei 225
<> on Wednesday.
Japan's economy shrank a record 4.0 percent in the first
quarter as domestic demand and investment buckled, threatening
to crush any export-led rebound later this year.
The data did add to growing evidence that global trade may
have bottomed out in the first quarter. Net exports proved to be
less of a drag on the world's second-largest economy than in the
previous three months, and companies ran down inventories.
UK finance minister Alistair Darling told the Times
newspaper that Britain is set to resume growth by the end of
2009 and the government does not plan to alter its economic
forecasts. []
Defensive pharmaceutical stocks performed relatively well as
investors edged back into safer haven assets. GlaxoSmithKline
<GSK.L> added 0.7 percent while Shire <SHP.L> gained 1.3 percent
off and Astrazeneca <AZN.L> climbed 1.9 percent.
(Editing by Hans Peters)
