* Banks bounce with Santander results, broker comment
* Shell leads oils higher after results
* Miners rally with commodity prices
* British Airways recovers as swine flu fears abate
By Jon Hopkins
LONDON, April 29 (Reuters) - Britain's top share index was
1.2 percent higher at midday on Wednesday as swine flu fears
abated with banks in the vanguard, helped by forecast-beating
results from Spain's Santander <SAN.MC> and broker comment.
At 1050 GMT, the FTSE 100 <> index was up 47.37 points
at 4,143.77, just below session highs. The benchmark index
closed 70.61 points, or 1.7 percent, lower on Tuesday.
"Investors seem to have shrugged off the Swine Flu fears and
are looking to get back into the market, but with key economic
data due later from the U.S. in the shape of GDP and a Fed rate
decision to come, trading has been a bit slow this morning,"
said Joshua Raymond, Market Strategist at City Index.
Banks saw a strong bounce back after falls on Tuesday caused
by worries that possible fresh capital raisings could still be
required by major banks when the U.S. government's stress tests
are revealed next month.
Above-forecast results from Santander lifted sentiment,
particularly as the bank's British arm, which includes Abbey,
reported a 25 percent rise in first-quarter profit.
The sector was also aided by an upbeat note from HSBC which
raised ratings for Barclays <BARC.L> and Lloyds Banking Group
<LLOY.L> and upped its price target to Royal Bank of Scotland
<RBS.L>, with Morgan Stanley also bullish on the former.
Royal Bank of Scotland, Lloyds Banking Group and Barclays
gained between 6.2 and 10.7 percent, while Standard Chartered
<STAN.L> and HSBC <HSBA.L> added 5.1 and 1.5 percent,
respectively.
Insurers also rallied as equity market valuations rebounded
with Aviva <AV.L>, Prudential <PRU.L>, Friends Provident <FP.L>,
and Standard Life <SL.L> up between 2.2 and 6.0 percent.
Standard Life will issue a trading update on Thursday.
The mining sector was a strong performer as commodity prices
rebounded from recent weakness as fears abated over the impact
of swine flu on global demand. Anglo American <AAL.L>, Xstrata
<XTA.L> Kazakhmys <KAZ.L>, Rio Tinto <RIO.L>, and BHP Billiton
<BLT.L> gained 1.4 to 4.4 percent.
British Airways <BAY.L> was a big gainer, up 4.6 percent as
airlines recovered after being hard hit earlier this week by
worries over the impact of swine flu.
OILS GUSH HIGHER
Oil shares moved higher reflecting a firmer crude price
<CLc1> on renewed demand interest and after first-quarter
results from Royal Dutch Shell <RDSa.L> beat expectations.
The Anglo-Dutch firm followed its peers in reporting a
sharply lower first-quarter profit due to lower crude prices
while outperforming analysts' forecasts.
Shell said its current cost of supply (CCS) net income fell
58 percent compared to the same period in 2008 to $3.30 billion.
Royal Dutch Shell shares gained 0.5 percent, with BG Group
<BG.L> up 0.7 percent, Cairn Energy <CNE.L> ahead 0.6 percent
and Tullow Oil <TLW.L> gaining 2.7 percent.
However, BP <BP.L> missed out, losing 1.0 percent after its
own forecast-busting first-quarter numbers on Tuesday were
trumped.
Home Retail Group <HOME.L> was the top FTSE 100 faller, down
4.0 percent after the owner of Argos stores and the Homebase
do-it-yourself chain posted a 24 percent drop in underlying
full-year profit and said trading conditions would stay tough.
Elsewhere on the high street, Tesco <TSCO.L> fell 2.3
percent after data released late on Tuesday showed the food
retailer losing market share.
J Sainsbury was the fastest growing of the big four
supermarkets over Easter, market researchers Nielsen said.
[]. J Sainsbury shares added 1 percent.
"There is still a lot to get through today. We've got to
listen to the Federal Reserve and we get first-quarter U.S. GDP
later ... so certainly there is a lot to play for throughout the
day," said Henk Potts, market strategist at Barclays Wealth.
The U.S. GDP figures come after Tuesday's data showed the
biggest monthly rise in U.S. consumer confidence in three years
and a decline in the pace of home price falls.
The Federal Reserve rate decision is due at 1815 GMT
although no changes are expected with rates already at rock
bottom.
(Editing by Simon Jessop)
