* RBS top blue-chip faller after H1
* Miners fall; metals prices weaker
* Investors cautious ahead of key U.S. jobs report
By Tricia Wright
LONDON, Aug 7 (Reuters) - Britain's top share index was
under pressure in midday trade on Friday, dragged down by banks
after Royal Bank of Scotland's first-half results, and with
investors cautious ahead of the latest U.S. jobs report.
By 1041 GMT, the FTSE 100 <> was down 54.68 points, or
1.2 percent, at 4,635.85, having closed 43.40 points higher on
Thursday at 4,690.53.
The blue-chip index has surged 34 percent since hitting a
six-year trough in March, and is up 4.6 percent for the year.
State-owned Royal Bank of Scotland <RBS.L> was the biggest
FTSE 100 faller, off over 12 percent after posting a 1 billion
pound ($1.7 billion) loss in the first half of the year, hit by
7.5 billion pounds of bad debts. The bank also named a new
finance director to boost turnaround efforts.[]
The headline loss attributable to shareholders compared to a
year-ago loss of 827 million pounds.
UK banks have signalled this week the worst was over for bad
loans and hinted a recovery could be around the corner, but RBS,
70 percent owned by the UK taxpayer, struck a more cautious
note, warning its results would be "poor" over the next two
years.
These conflicting noises weighed on investor sentiment.
"You've got two major banks, Lloyds and RBS, with two
incredibly contrasting views, something that you don't often
see," said Angus Campbell, head of sales at Capital Spreads.
"(We had) Lloyds saying on Wednesday their impairments have
peaked (and) RBS saying if they're lucky, things will peak in
2010; that's an uncertainty for the markets," he said.
Lloyds Banking Group <LLOY.L> dropped 6.4 percent, with
Barclays <BARC.L>, and HSBC <HSBA.L> both down 3.2 percent.
MINERS OUT OF FAVOUR, OILS MIXED
Mining stocks were also lower, as copper <MCU3=LX> eased,
reflecting a weaker tone across the base metals as traders took
to the sidelines ahead of the key U.S. jobs data.
Eurasian Natural Resources <ENRC.L> shed 6.7 percent, while
Anglo American <AAL.L>, BHP Billiton <BLT.L>, Rio Tinto <RIO.L>,
Kazakhmys <KAZ.L> and Xstrata <XTA.L> shed 2.7-4.3 percent.
Energy stocks were mixed as oil prices <CLc1> edged down
from a six-week high in the previous session.
BP <BP.L> and Royal Dutch Shell <RDSa.L> pushed ahead, up
0.8 percent and 0.7 percent respectively, while Tullow Oil
<TLW.L> dropped 1.7 percent and Cairn Energy <CNE.L> lost 2.8
percent.
Defensive stocks were among the biggest blue-chip gainers,
as investors turned to assets perceived as safe bets as their
appetite for risk waned.
Heavyweight Vodafone <VOD.L> topped the FTSE 100
leaderboard, up 1.8 percent, while AstraZeneca <AZN.L> gained
1.4 percent, and British American Tobacco <BATS.L> put on 0.8
percent.
Security services group G4S <GFS.L> added 0.8 percent after
Swedish peer Securitas <SECUb.ST> posted second-quarter earnings
that inched ahead of expectations. []
In economics news, British factory gate prices fell at their
sharpest rate in almost eight years in July and input price
inflation fell to its lowest in almost 23 years, suggesting
consumer price inflation will ease rapidly, official data
showed. []
Investors' attention this afternoon will be on the U.S. July
nonfarm payrolls, due at 1230 GMT, which are forecast to show a
320,000 decline, after a 467,000 fall in June, with the
unemployment rate seen up to 9.6 percent in July, from 9.5
percent in June.
June U.S. consumer credit numbers will also be a focus later
in the afternoon.
(Editing by Rupert Winchester)
