* FTSE 100 down 0.1 pct ahead of key U.S. jobs data
* Miners track weaker metal prices
* BA climbs as debt down, analysts' call
* British Energy falls after EDF walks away from bid
By Dominic Lau
LONDON, Aug 1 (Reuters) - Britain's leading share index had
ticked down by midday on Friday ahead of U.S. jobs data as
weaker metal and oil prices weighed on commodity stocks, though
banks rose after a report said Lehman Brothers may sell mortgage
assets.
By 1027 GMT the FTSE 100 <> was down 4.5 points, or 0.1
percent, at 5,407.4, well off its day's low of 5,359.0. The UK
benchmark lost 3.8 percent last month, and is down 16 percent
for the year.
Miners were the biggest drag on the index, falling along
with weaker metal prices. BHP Billiton <BLT.L>, Rio Tinto
<RIO.L>, Xstrata <XTA.L>, Lonmin <LMI.L>, Antofagasta <ANTO.L>
and Anglo American <AAL.L> were down between 3 and 4.3 percent.
Energy stocks also suffered as crude prices <CLc1> traded
below $123 a barrel. BP <BP.L>, Royal Dutch Shell <RDSa.L>, BG
Group <BG.L> and Cairn Energy <CNE.L> shed 0.4 to 1.1 percent.
Banks traded higher as investors switched into the sector
after cashing in on miners and after the New York Post said
Lehman Brothers <LEH.N> is in talks with prospective buyers to
sell about $30 billion in commercial mortgage assets and other
hard-to-value securities, traders said.
Barclays <BARC.L>, Royal Bank of Scotland <RBS.L>, HSBC
<HSBA.L>, HBOS <HBOS.L> and Lloyds TSB <LLOY.L> were all up by
between 0.6 and 3.4 percent.
But mid-cap Alliance & Leicester <ALLL.L>, which is being
taken over by Spain's Santander <SAN.MC>, slipped 1.5 percent
after the bank said first-half profits were almost wiped out due
to a 209 million pound hit to the value of risky assets and
higher funding costs.
All eyes will be on U.S. non-farm payrolls data due at 1230
GMT for further clarity on the state of the world's largest
economy after a surprise jump in U.S. weekly jobless claims and
weaker-than-expected second-quarter gross domestic product
numbers on Thursday.
"You can expect a little bit of nervousness and slightly low
volume until we see the figures," said Tim Hughes, head of sales
trading at IG Index.
"It is going to be a weak figure. Sso long as it's not going
to be dreadful. Then it's kind of confirmation of the difficult
economic outlook going forward rather than anything new and
negative."
Economists polled by Reuters estimated that employers cut
75,000 jobs in July after losing 62,000 the previous month.
BA FLIES HIGH
British Airways <BAY.L> reversed earlier losses to top the
FTSE 100 gainers, climbing 5.7 percent as analysts point to a
reduction in debt and increase in average fare yields detailed
in the airline's first-quarter earnings update.
Kingfisher <KGF.L> soared 6.6 percent after Europe's biggest
home improvements retailer said it had agreed to sell its
Castorama Italy business to Groupo Adeo SA for 560 million euros
($871.9 million) in cash, and would use the proceeds to reduce
its debt.
BAE Systems <BAES.L> advanced 3.7 percent despite Europe's
biggest defence company posting a 26 percent rise in first-half
earnings and saying its full-year results would benefit from
strong demand for armoured wheeled vehicles.
British Energy <BGY.L>, however, fell 4 percent after
France's EDF <EDF.PA> said it had failed to reach agreement
taking over the nuclear power operator in a 12 billion pound
($23.8 billion) deal. []
(Additional reporting by Michael Taylor and Atul Prakash)
