* FTSE rises 0.6 pct
* Miners jump on positive results
* BT Group, Unilever results disappoint investors
By Atul Prakash
LONDON, July 31 (Reuters) - Britain's top share index rose
by midday on Thursday, as results buoyed mining stocks and
outweighed weaker BT Group <BT.L> and Unilever <ULVR.L>, which
disappointed the market with their earnings figures.
At 1120 GMT, FTSE 100 <> was up 30.9 points, or 0.6
percent, at 5,451.6, after jumping 1.9 percent on Wednesday. It
is down 16 percent this year, against an average yearly gain of
more than 10 percent in the previous five years.
Miners gained as sentiment got a boost from Anglo American
<AAL.L> which posted a 14 percent rise in first-half underlying
profit on higher output and forecast a strong second half.
Anglo American <AAL.L> rose 2.7 percent, BHP Billiton
<BLT.L> gained 3.8 percent, Xstrata <XTA.L> rose 2.1 percent and
Eurasian Natural Resources <ENRC.L> rose 6.5 percent.
London-listed Chilean miner Antofagasta <ANTO.L> said it
produced 233,600 tonnes of copper in the first half, 10.2
percent more than the same period last year. Its shares were up
4.9 percent.
Despite the recent upswing in British stocks, analysts were
not convinced that the downtrend was coming to an end. They saw
poor results from some big UK companies in the weeks ahead.
"Earnings are under pressure. The results are poor by
comparison to previous years, which is hardly surprising," said
Alan Harris, an investment manager at Charles Stanley.
"I see the rest of the year being a bit rocky and these
results that we're getting are not going to be good."
TELECOMS SUFFER
The telecommunications sector was the biggest loser on the
FTSE 100 after BT Group posted a lower-than-expected rise in its
first-quarter underlying core earnings, resulting in a slump of
11.3 percent in its shares.
Sentiment was also hurt after British mobile phone retailer
and telecoms group Carphone Warehouse <CPW.L> cut its forecast
for new broadband customers this year and said it remained
cautious about the outlook for consumer spending. The company
shares were flat by midday.
Banking shares were mixed, with investors remaining cautious
in picking financials because of the uncertain economic outlook
and concerns about more writedowns.
HSBC <HSBA.L> and Lloyds TSB <LLOY.L> fell 0.6 and 3.1
percent respectively, but Barclays <BARC.L>, Royal Bank of
Scotland <RBS.L> and Standard Chartered <STAN.L> rose between 1
and 3 percent.
HBOS <HBOS.L>, Britain's biggest home lender, said it was
considering asset sales after reporting that first-half profits
halved due to a 1.1 billion pound ($2.2 billion) hit on debt
securities hurt by the credit crunch.
But its shares jumped 8.8 percent to top the UK index, as
analysts said there were no nasty shocks in the results, profits
beat expectations and the shares had already been hit hard.
HBOS shares have tumbled more than 60 percent this year amid
concern about its exposure to structured credit assets, higher
funding costs and its heavy reliance on the slowing UK housing
market and broader economy, but they have recovered from an
all-time low of 225 pence earlier this month.
Oil and gas companies also rose, with BG Group <BG.L>, BP
<BP.L>, Cairn Energy <CNE.L> and Tullow Oil <TLW.L> adding
between 2.4 and 6.1 percent.
Unilever <ULVR.L> slumped by 7.2 percent to feature among
leading FTSE 100 losers, as traders reacted with disappointment
to its second-quarter underlying sales, which rose 6.8 percent.
"Someone thought they were going to be cracking figures this
morning and a lot of analysts upgraded expectations yesterday --
which is why they have had a decent run in the last couple of
days ... but they didn't meet them and they're getting quite
bashed today," a trader said.
(Additional reporting by Michael Taylor; editing by Elaine
Hardcastle)
