* Glaxo up; Novartis drops generic Advair in U.S.
* BG Group shares rise on bid talk - traders
* Banks retreat after recent gains
* U.S. data awaited
By Tricia Wright
LONDON, March 18 (Reuters) - Britain's top share index edged
0.2 percent higher in midday trade on Thursday, driven by
strength from drugmakers and energy stocks, while banks fell
back after recent gains.
By 1209 GMT the FTSE 100 <> was up 10.82 points, or 0.2
percent, at 5,655.45, after it closed closed 0.4 percent higher
on Wednesday, at a 21-month closing peak boosted by firmer banks
and commodity issues.
GlaxoSmithKline <GSK.L> grabbed the top spot on the blue
chip leader board, up 2.6 percent after Novartis <NOVN.VX>
handed back U.S. rights to a drug widely thought to be a generic
copy of its blockbuster Advair.
This was seen as reducing the threat of cheap copies of the
lung drug in Glaxo's biggest market.
Peers AstraZeneca <AZN.L> and Shire <SHP.L> also rose,
adding 0.9 and 0.4 percent respectively.
Energy stocks were higher too, led by BG Group <BG.L>, up
2.2 percent on market talk of Exxon Mobil's <XOM.N> interest in
the company. []
BP <BP.L>, Cairn Energy <CNE.L> and Royal Dutch Shell
<RDSa.L> put on 0.1 to 1.1 percent.
Among individual movers, British Airways <BAY.L> put on 1.2
percent as Societe Generale and UBS raised their target prices
for the airline and press reports said that its merger deal with
Iberia <IBLA.MC> will close next week.
BANKS RETREAT
Banks were under pressure as investors took a breather after
strong gains on the risk sensitive sector.
Barclays <BARC.L>, HSBC <HSBA.L>, Standard Chartered
<STAN.L>, Royal Bank of Scotland <RBS.L> and Lloyds Banking
Group <LLOY.L> fell 0.7 to 2.3 percent.
"Nobody wants to be too heavily involved in cyclical stocks
because they've had a very good run," said Stephen Pope, chief
global equity strategist at Cantor Fitzgerald.
Some mining stocks were weaker, impacted by falling metals
prices. Fresnillo <FRES.L>, Eurasian Natural Resources <ENRC.L>
and Randgold Resources <RRS.L> were the worst off, shedding 0.9
to 1.6 percent.
Britain's public borrowing hit its highest on record for a
February but rose less than economists expected, suggesting the
government may undershoot its borrowing forecasts for the tax
year ending in March. []
British factory orders fell faster than expected in March
and firms were less optimistic about raising output in the
coming months, the CBI's monthly industrial trends survey showed
on Thursday. []
For an interactive timeline on Britain's economy please
click on: http://link.reuters.com/zyd34j
Investors were looking ahead to U.S. inflation numbers due
at 1230 GMT, with headline February CPI seen up 0.1 percent on
the month, giving a 2.3 percent annualised increase, down from
2.6 percent in January.
Investors will also have initial weekly jobless claims,
February leading indicators, and the March Philly Fed index to
digest on Thursday afternoon.
(Editing by Hans Peters)
