* FTSE 100 flat, investors eye U.S. non-farm payrolls
* Man Group weighed by Numis downgrade
* Precious metals miners gain as gold firms
By David Brett
LONDON, Dec 3 (Reuters) - Britain's top shares were almost
flat approaching midday on Friday, a fall among financials after
recent gains offsetting strength in precious metals miners ahead
of jobs data from the United States.
By 1132 GMT, the FTSE 100 <> was down 1.21 points at
5,766.35.
The index gained a hefty 125.06 points on Thursday, a second
straight session of strong gains and its highest close since
Nov. 22, as optimism grew about the global economy and that the
euro zone debt crisis would be contained.
"If there is a concern at this stage it is that
participation in the rally is still somewhat muted," analysts at
Charles Stanley said.
"Nevertheless, the fact remains the FTSE has bounced sharply
following a temporary breach of support and it is not clear that
this move is over yet."
Banks <.FTNMX8350> dropped some of the previous session's
strong gains, with Standard Chartered <STAN.L> off 2 percent.
The European Central Bank said it was continuing to buy euro
zone government bonds to counter a destabilising rise in
peripheral countries' borrowing costs, although there was no
sign of the "shock and awe" scale of purchases some analysts
said is required. []
Man Group <EMG.L> fell 3.4 percent after Numis Securities
cut its rating for the hedge fund firm to "reduce" from "hold"
in an otherwise fairly neutral review of British asset managers.
U.S. JOBS
Investors' attention will focus on U.S. jobs numbers this
afternoon, with November non-farm payrolls due at 1330 GMT,
"Traders do not want to get caught on the wrong side of any
potential upside ahead of key economic data," Jimmy Yates, head
of equities at CMC Markets, said.
Wall Street futures pointed to a weaker start for equities
on Friday, with U.S. ISM non-manufacturing index also due for
release at 1500 GMT.
The rate of growth in the British service sector slipped
slightly in November, as expected, but remained near October's
four-month high.
Precious metals miners were among the top gainers on the
FTSE, as gold rose back above $1,390 an ounce, close to its
strongest in three weeks, ahead of U.S. jobs data that could
point to a strengthening economic recovery.
Gold producer Fresnillo <FRES.L> was up 3.3 percent, while
Johnson Matthey <JMAT.L> added 2.1 percent with the platinum
processor helped by an increase in target price and estimates
from Liberum Capital, which kept a "buy" rating on the stock.
Temporary power supplier Aggreko <AGGK.L> rose 1.2 percent
after it extended its power coverage in the U.S. with the
purchase of Northland Power Services. []
Kingfisher <KGF.L> rose 1.6 percent, boosted by a flurry of
bullish broker notes following the home improvement retailer's
results on Thursday.
Perceived defensive stocks also provided support for the
FTSE, with drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline <GSK.L> up 0.4 percent and
Imperial Tobacco <IMT.L> rising 0.5 percent.
(Editing by David Hulmes)
