* Miners up on firmer metal prices, banks gain ground
* Pharmas down; AstraZeneca down on fears about cancer drug
* U.S. private sector jobs data awaited
By Simon Falush
LONDON, Feb 3 (Reuters) - Gains in miners and banks on
improved risk appetite outweighed weaker drugmakers, led lower
by AstraZeneca <AZN.L> following fears about a cancer drug, with
Britain's top share index rising 0.4 percent on Wednesday.
But moves were mostly muted, with investors still uncertain
about prospects for the global economy and awaiting the U.S. ADP
employment report which could give clues to closely watched U.S.
non-farm payroll data due on Friday.
By 1155 GMT, the FTSE 100 <> was up 19.60 points at
5,302.91 -- a fourth straight session of gains -- after it
closed 0.7 percent up on Tuesday buoyed by miners and banks.
"We are becalmed before payrolls. Investors were very
nervous last week but worries over Greece have receded as has
concern about bank bashing by [] Obama, and
data was good yesterday," said Steven Bell, director at hedge
fund GLC.
Banks delivered the biggest boost to the index, supported
after Tuesday's data showing rising sales of previously-owned
U.S. homes and robust earnings from bellwethers representing
consumer and industrial businesses, including Whirlpool <WHR.N>
and Cummins Inc <CMI.N>, pointed to a steady rebound in demand.
Barclays <BARC.L>, HSBC <HSBA.L>, Royal Bank of Scotland
<RBS.L> and Lloyds Banking Group <LLOY.L> added 0.9 to 3.3
percent, but Standard Chartered <STAN.L> underperformed, gaining
just 0.1 percent.
Elsewhere among financials, insurer Standard Life <SL.L> was
the top performer, up 3.8 percent, after beating expectations
for 2009 sales.
Miners also lifted the index, helped by firmer metal prices.
Rio Tinto <RIO.L>, Xstrata <XTA.L>, Anglo American <AAL.L>,
Kazakhmys <KAZ.L> and BHP Billiton <BLT.L> gained 0.8 to 2.1
percent.
PHARMAS DRAG
But some of those gains were outweighed by a sharp fall in
pharmaceutical heavyweight AstraZeneca, down 3.3 percent, as it
went ex-dividend and on fears it may release negative clinical
trial results for experimental bowel cancer drug Recentin.
Morgan Stanley said Recentin was likely to fail in a
head-to-head trial against Roche's <ROG.VX> Avastin. An
AstraZeneca spokesman declined to comment on the likely outcome
of the trial but said Recentin data were expected in the first
half of 2010.
GlaxoSmithKline <GSK.L> fell 0.2 percent ahead of results
due on Thursday, though Shire <SHP.L> added 0.2 percent.
British consumer confidence rose in January, a Nationwide
Building Society survey found, but households showed less desire
to spend than normal for the start of the year and barriers to a
full recovery in sentiment remain. []
Growth in Britain's services sector slowed more than
expected as snow-related disruptions and a rise in sales tax
took their toll, a survey of purchasing managers showed.
[]
The Bank of England starts its two-day monetary policy
committee meeting on Wednesday, with a decision due on Thursday.
The central bank was expected to signal a pause in
quantitative easing by refraining from increasing its 200
billion pound ($319.8 billion) asset-buying programme
[]
On the other side of the Atlantic, U.S. ADP National
Employment figures for January, due at 1315 GMT, will be of
interest, ahead of Friday's key December U.S. jobs report.
Sage Group <SGE.L> also traded ex-dividend and fell 0.8
percent.
(Editing by Sharon Lindores)
($1=.6254 Pound)
