* FTSE 100 index jumps 0.8 percent, back above 6,000
* Banks higher, led by HSBC up on headquarters shift talk
* Energy issues up as brokers upgrade on higher crude price
LONDON, March 7 (Reuters) - Strength in banks and commodity
stocks pulled Britain's leading share index higher by midday on
Monday, as investors focused on fundamentals and shook off fears
about the impact of high oil prices on the global economy.
At 1206 GMT, the FTSE 100 <> index was up 45.53 points,
or 0.8 percent, at 6,035.92, having shed 0.2 percent on Friday.
"We have seen investors come in to buy stocks after a
somewhat aggressive sell off in later trading in Friday," said
Joshua Raymond, market strategist at City Index.
"(However) The FTSE needs to break through current
resistance between 6,040-6,050 before the UK Index can target
the 6,100 level again," Raymond added.
Banks were the best sector performers thanks to strong gains
from global heavyweight HSBC <HSBA.L>, up 1.8 percent.
HSBC may move its headquarters from London to Hong Kong
because of what it sees as high levels of tax and red tape in
the UK, the Sunday Telegraph said. []
Part-nationalised Lloyds Banking Group <LLOY.L>, however,
shed 0.1 percent, unsettled by a report in The Guardian which
said the Liberal Democrats backbench Treasury Committee has
backed a radical plan to distribute the government-owned shares
in both Lloyds and Royal Bank of Scotland <RBS.L> to the public.
"Aesthetically it all sounds great, but is wholly
impractical," said David Buik, senior partner at BGC Partners.
Energy issues also gave the blue chips a boost, led by BP
<BP.L> up 1.7 percent, helped by a batch of brokers raising
estimates across the sector based on higher oil prices.
Brent crude <LCOc1> jumped to $118 a barrel on Monday as
Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi attacked rebel-held towns, stoking
fears of an imminent civil war in the country. []
Precious metal miners benefited as gold <XAU=> rose to near
record highs, and silver jumped to its highest level in more
than three decades on safe-haven buying on the unrest in Libya,
with Mexican silver miner Fresnillo <FRES.L> up 2.5 percent.
WALL STREET EYED
U.S stock index futures <.DJC1>, <.SPc1> were higher,
signalling a recovery on Wall Street after big falls on Friday,
with some takeover activity helping sentiment.
Luxury goods firms got a boost after France's LVMH
<LVMH.PA> launched a 3.7 billion euro takeover bid for Italy's
Bulgari <BULG.MI>, paying a premium of almost 60 percent.
[]
Burberry <BRBY.L> was in demand on the news, up 3.5 percent.
Among individual stocks, Intertek <ITRK.L> was the top
blue-chip gainer, up 4.5 percent as the testing firm posted an
11 percent rise in full-year profit and said it would acquire
safety services provider Moody. []
Inmarsat <ISA.L> was by far the biggest FTSE 100 faller,
shedding 10.6 percent to touch its lowest since late 2009, as
the satellite operator's results were below market expectations
and it signalled a difficult 2011. []
Rolls-Royce <RR.L> slipped 0.2 percent after the engineer
confirmed it is talks with German automotive group Daimler
<DAIGn.DE> to make a joint bid for heavy diesel engine maker
Tognum <TGMG.DE>. []
(Editing by Hans Peters)
