* Weak dollar underpins commodity gains
* Liberty leads property stocks lower after share placing
* British data mixed but investors await Fed decision
By David Brett
LONDON, Sept 23 (Reuters) - Britain's top share index was up
0.3 percent by midday on Wednesday, lifted by defensive and
commodity stocks as investor optimism on the economic outlook
persisted.
But moves were muted as investors await a rate decision from
the U.S. Federal Reserve due later.
By 1059 GMT the FTSE 100 <> was up 15.84 points at
5158.44, having closed up 0.3 percent on Tuesday when it set a
fresh 2009 intraday peak at 5,189.88.
"Given the speed of the economic recovery coming through we
would still advise investors to position their portfolios
towards the cyclical side of the market... including industrials
and technology... as opposed to classically defensive stocks,"
said Henk Potts, equity strategist at Barclays Stockbrokers.
However, defensively viewed equities joined a broad-based,
if slight, rally as pharmaceuticals GlaxoSmithKline <GSK.L> and
AstraZeneca added 1.2 and 0.3 percent respectively, while
Imperial Tobacco <IMT.L> climbed 1.5 percent and British
American Tobacco <BATS.L> was up 0.8 percent.
Dollar weakness has provided support for metal and oil
prices, which has proved the catalyst for the rise in commodity
issues.
Among miners, Rio Tinto <RIO.L>, Xstrata <XTA.L>, Eurasian
Natural Resources <ENRC.L>, Anglo American <AAL.L>, Kazakhmys
<KAZ.L> and Fresnillo <FRES.L> added 0.3-0.9 percent.
As risk appetite spread, oils joined the rally. BP <BP.L>,
BG Group <BG.L>, Tullow Oil <TLW.L> and Cairn Energy <CNE.L>
added 0.1-1.3 percent.
BURBERRY GAINS
Individual risers included Burberry <BRBY.L>, which topped
the blue-chip gainers, up over 4 percent, bolstered by bullish
comments from chief executive Angela Ahrendts, which added to
the positive buzz surrounding the luxury goods retailer.
Banks also benefited. HSBC <HSBA.L>, Standard Chartered
<STAN.L>, and Lloyds Banking Group <LLOY.L> rose 0.3-2.6
percent.
Bank of England policymakers voted unanimously to keep their
asset purchase programme at 175 billion pounds in September,
but those who had voted for more in August still thought they
had a case, minutes of their meeting showed.
The number of mortgages approved for house purchase in
August jumped 81.4 percent year-on-year to 38,095, according to
the British Bankers' Association.
Britain has probably come out of recession but the pace of
recovery in 2010 will be slow, with tight credit and weak
domestic demand posing obstacles to an upturn, the Confederation
of British Industry said. []
On the downside, shopping mall owner Liberty International
<LII.L> fell 7.9 percent, the top blue-chip laggard, as it
placed 56.1 million shares to raise funds to restart investment
plans mothballed at the height of the financial crisis.
Other property companies were also on the back foot as the
Liberty move highlighted funding concerns in the sector.
Hammerson <HMSO.L>, British Land <BLND.L> and Land Securities
<LAND.L> fell 0.9-2.2 percent.
Four FTSE 100 companies traded ex-dividend on Wednesday,
with Aviva <AV.L>, Centrica <CNA.L>, G4S <GFS.L>, and Petrofac
<PFC.L> knocking 1.94 points off the blue chip index.
After the London close, attention will turn to the outcome
of the latest two-day Federal Reserve Open Market Committee
meeting, although no change is expected to U.S. monetary policy.
Ahead of that, investors will watch the latest U.S. mortgage
and refinancing indexes to get further evidence on the state of
the world's largest economy.
(Editing by Dan Lalor)
