* FTSE up 0.2 pct
* Precious metal-related share boosted by Citi note
* BP lags as Rosneft deal is dealt a huge blow
By David Brett
LONDON, March 25 (Reuters) - Precious metal miners helped
Britain's top share index higher on Friday, as Citigroup issued
upbeat comment on UK stocks in the sector, upgrading African
Barrick Gold <ABGL.L> to "buy".
Citigroup said the upgrade reflected the lack of political
challenges facing the company given developments in North Africa
and Gulf states.
African Barrick added 4 percent, while Rangold Resources
<RRS.L> climbed 1.1 percent
"We prefer UK golds to South Africa platinums because of the
still-challenged state of global autos and based on concerns
about South African costs," Citigroup said.
By 1149 GMT, the FTSE 100 <> was 11.07 points or 0.2
percent higher at 5,891.94, after London's blue chips rallied
1.5 percent at 5,880.87 on Thursday to levels last seen prior to
Japan's devastating earthquake.
"Confidence is growing that the economic recovery will defy
the headwinds coming from the turbulences in Libya and the
nuclear crisis in Japan," Stefan Angele, head of investment
management at Swiss & Global Asset Management, said.
Traders said the upbeat sentiment over equities and their
attractive valuations remained a factor after a recent swathe of
bullish broker comment.
Larry Kantor, head of research at Barclays Capital, said on
Thursday he favoured equities over bonds, and developed market
equities over emerging market stocks, and "the corrections
following the dramatic events of recent weeks have created
attractive entry points".
The FTSE 100 carries a one-year forward price-to-earnings of
9.8 times, a level not seen since September and well below a
10-year average of 14.4, Thomson Reuters Datastream shows.
By comparison, the S&P 500 has a one-year forward P/E of
12.5 times.
RECKITT RALLIES
Consumer goods group Reckitt Benckiser <RB.L> was the top
riser, up 3.1 percent with traders citing an upgrade from Bank
of America Merrill Lynch as the catalyst.
Invensys <ISYS.L> rebounded 2.9 percent following sharp
falls on Thursday when the engineering firm ousted its chief
executive Ulf Henriksson.
"The share price reaction was overdone yesterday," one
London-based trader said, noting also that light volumes were
also contributing to its early rally.
Sainsbury <SBRY.L> added 1.2 percent as Natixis upgraded the
food retailer to "neutral" from "reduce".
BP, however, fell 0.9 percent after an arbitration panel
thwarted a deal between the British oil major and Rosneft
<ROSN.MM>, Russia's largest oil firm.
The two companies have been blocked from forming an alliance
to explore for oil in the Russian Arctic and executing a $16
billion share swap. []
"On the face of it this looks a messy situation and one
where we think BP will do well to emerge with all of its
investment in TNK-BP, reputation in Russia and Arctic oil deal
intact," Citigroup said.
Retailers Next <NXT.L> and Kingfisher <KGF.L>, each down
around 1 percent, took a breather following sharp gains post
results in the previous session.
Autonomy <AUTN.L> fell 2 percent, after JPMorgan cuts its
full-year 2012 earnings estimate for the software firm, citing
deteriorating earnings quality.
Index futures pointed to a higher open on Wall Street on
Friday, with U.S. final fourth-quarter GDP due at 1230 GMT, and
the March final Reuters/University of Michigan consumer
sentiment survey is scheduled for release at 1355 GMT
(Additional reporting by Dominic Lau and Tricia Wright; Editing
by Jon Loades-Carter)
