* FTSE 100 up 0.5 percent
* Set for longest winning streak since August
* Miners, banks positive
* Retailers hit by Dixons results
By Simon Falush
LONDON, March 30 (Reuters) - Banks and miners pushed
Britain's FTSE 100 <> higher on Wednesday, with investors
focusing on an improving outlook for company earnings and with
technical indicators pointing to further gains.
The FTSE 100 <> was 29.24 points, or 0.5 percent
higher, at 5,961.41 by 1102 GMT. The index, which rose 0.5
percent on Tuesday, was up for its sixth consecutive session,
its longest winning streak since August.
Miners and banks, which tend to perform well when appetite
for risk increases, provided the bulk of the gains.
Vedanta Resources <VED.L> added 5.3 percent, the top gainer,
with traders citing a note from Morgan Stanley saying the
India-focused miner has a 64 percent upside.
Global miner Rio Tinto <RIO.L> gained 1.9 percent while HSBC
<HSBA.L>, Europe's largest bank, added 0.7 percent.
Randgold Resources <RRS.L> bucked the trend, slipping 0.4
percent after Societe Generale started coverage of the precious
metals miner with a "sell" rating.
The FTSE 100 saw a sharp rebound last week from falls
earlier in the month prompted by worries over the euro zone debt
crisis, political turmoil in the Arab world and the earthquake
in Japan.
"The updates companies have been giving investors since the
oil price picked up have indicated that prices can be passed on
and that demand is holding up," Colin McLean, managing director
at the 650 million pound ($1.04 billion) Scottish Value
Management in Edinburgh.
He said industrials, tech stocks and chemicals producers all
look well-placed.
IMI <IMI.L> rose 2.4 percent, among the top performers,
after RBC Capital Markets, in a broader upbeat note on
industrials, selected the engineer as its "top pick".
BID TALK
Centrica <CNA.L> was among the top gainers, up 2.9 percent
on strong volume with traders citing talk that Spanish peer
Iberdola <IBE.MC> was set to make a bid.
Traders also cited talk of bid interest in fashion group
Burberry <BRBY.L>, which added 2.6 percent.
Technical analysts said the index looked set to retest the
6,000 level, with CMC Markets analyst Michael Hewson saying the
March high of around 6,040 could be reached soon as long as the
index closed above its 55 day moving average at 5,945.
The index is above its 50-day moving average for the first
time since March 8.
However, reminding investors that companies exposed to the
domestic economy faced tough times ahead, midcap electronics
chain Dixons Retail <DXNS.L> slid 11 percent. Marks & Spencer
<MKS.L> slid 2.7 percent.
British retail sales growth picked up unexpectedly in March,
but the underlying trend for sales remained weak, a
Confederation of British Industry survey found. []
With the market focused on Friday's U.S. March non-farm
payrolls report, March's Challenger Layoffs numbers and ADP
National Employment survey, due at 1130 GMT and 1215 GMT
respectively, will give an idea of the jobs situation across the
Atlantic.
Ex-dividend factors knocked 4.4 points off the FTSE 100
index, with Anglo American <AAL.L>, British Land <BLND.L>,
British Sky Broadcasting <BSY.L>, Eurasian Natural Resources
<ENRC.L>, Prudential <PRU.L> and Smiths Group <SMIN.L> all
trading without their payout attractions.
(Editing by Dan Lalor)
($1 = 0.6225 pound)
