* Miners gain on stronger metal prices, broker upgrades
* Banks higher; Lloyds Banking Group upgraded
* British Airways down on record full-year loss
By Jon Hopkins
LONDON, May 22 (Reuters) - Britain's top share index was 0.8
percent higher at midday on Friday, supported by strength in
miners, buoyed by rebounding metal prices and positive broker
notes, and a rally by banks.
At 1145 GMT the FTSE 100 <> index was 33.64 points
higher at 4,379.11, having fallen 122.94 points on Thursday.
"Although we have seen some quite impressive swings up and
down this week, the net result is very little change from where
we were last Friday, showing the lack of commitment traders have
to the bull or bear side at the moment," said Anthony Grech,
market strategist at spread betters, IG Index.
Miners gave the biggest lift to the index after seeing sharp
falls in the previous session, lifted by recovering metal prices
and upgrades from Goldman Sachs and price target hikes from
Credit Suisse.
Eurasian Natural Resources <ENRC.L>, Kazakhmys <KAZ.L>,
Fresnilo <FRES.L>, Rio Tinto <RIO.L>, Xstrata <XTA.L> and BHP
Billiton <BLT.L> gained 1.9-6.6 percent.
Oil majors also added their strength as crude <CLc1> moved
higher again, with BP <BP.L>, BG Group <BG.L>, and Royal Dutch
Shell <RDSa.L> adding 0.2-1.7 percent.
Banks were higher recovering after falls on Thursday, with
HSBC <HSBA.L>, Standard Chartered <STAN.L>, Royal Bank of
Scotland <RBS.L>, Barclays <BARC.L> and Lloyds Banking Group
<LLOY.L> adding 0.6-2.6 percent.
Exane BNP Paribas raised its rating for Lloyds to 'neutral'
from 'underperform', while reducing its target by 14 percent to
60 pence.
Real estate issues got a boost from sector consolidation
moves, with mid-cap Segro <SGRO.L>, up 2 percent, after saying
it had made a takeover approach to small cap peer Brixton
<BXTN.L>, up 20 percent.
British Land <BLND.L>, hit by disappointing results on
Thursday, rallied 4.3 percent, while Land Securities <LAND.L>
gained 2.5 percent, and Hammerson <HMSO.L> took on 3.6 percent.
BA FLIES SOUTH
British Airways <BAY.L> shed 1.2 percent after the airline
reported a record loss, nearly doubled its debt and cancelled
its dividend. []
"Today's numbers really are a comprehensive tale of woe,
with almost every metric eligible for intensive care as BA heads
deep into the perfect storm," says Richard Curr, head of dealing
at CFD specialists Blue Index.
Cable & Wireless <CW.L> extended Thursday's post-results
decline, down 2.5 percent with a number of brokers cutting
target prices for the telecoms firm.
SABMiller <SAB.L> was also weak, down 0.5 percent as JP
Morgan downgraded its rating to 'neutral' from 'overweight' in a
European beverages review.
Drug issues were the main drag on blue chip sentiment, with
GlaxoSmithKline <GSK.L>, AstraZeneca <AZN.L>, and Shire <SHP.L>
down 0.6-1.1 percent.
Investors shrugged aside the second reading for British
first-quarter GDP which was unrevised, with Thursday's move by
ratings agency S&P to revise its outlook for Britain to negative
from stable continuing to weigh on underlying sentiment.
"We had a bit of a reality check yesterday after all the
joyous enthusiasm...it's all very well having some supposed
green shoots but the underlying issues are still there," said
Justin Urquhart-Stewart investment director at Seven Investment
Management.
Overall, trading volumes were thin ahead of a long public
holiday weekend in Britain and the United States.
(Additional reporting by Simon Falush; editing by Dan Lalor)
(jon.hopkins@reuters.com; +44 207 5
42 8954; Reuters Messaging:jon.hopkins.reuters.com@reuters.net))
