* Miners, energy firms draw strength from commodities rally
* Insurers in demand on takeover speculation
* 1700 GMT deadline looms for Kraft's Cadbury bid
By Harpreet Bhal
LONDON, Nov 9 (Reuters) - A rally in miners and oil stocks
lifted Britain's top shares 1.4 percent by midday on Monday,
buoyed by rising commodity prices as risk appetite heightened
on the back of the G20's pledge to keep stimulus in place.
At 1201 GMT, the FTSE 100 <> was up 73.43 points at
5,216.15, extending gains from last week when the index posted
its best weekly gain in a month.
Mining stocks dominated the blue-chip gainers list, with
Kazakhmys <KAZ.L>, Antofagasta <ANTO.L>, Rio Tinto <RIO.L> and
Fresnillo <FRES.L> up 3.6 to 5.3 percent.
Metals prices rose and gold <XAU=> hit a fresh lifetime high
while the dollar retreated, as investors took on more risky
positions.
Analysts said stocks, especially financials, were bouyed by
a pledge by the Group of 20 (G20) at the weekend to prepare
strategies to end emergency support for their economies but to
keep the aid flowing until a recovery was assured
[].
"The monetary backdrop for stocks at the moment is quite
good because we've got low rates probably into the first part of
next year and maybe even longer than that," said Nick Serff, a
strategist at City Index.
"For banking stocks, they (the G20 comments) mean they're
going to keep supporting them and they're going to keep putting
the funding into the system," he said.
Banks were also supported by optimism ahead of third-quarter
trading statements from HSBC <HSBA.L> and Barclays <BARC.L>,
which were up 1 and 2.6 percent respectively. Within the sector,
Lloyds Banking Group gained 0.9 percent while Royal Bank of
Scotland was 5.1 percent higher.
Oil companies drew strength from a rise in crude prices
<CLc1> to above $78. BG Group <BG.L>, BP <BP.L>, Royal Dutch
Shell <RDSa.L> and Tullow Oil <TLW.L> added 1 to 3.3 percent.
INSURERS IN DEMAND
Life insurers were in demand as takeover speculation swept
through the sector after Europe's second largest insurer AXA SA
<AXAF.PA> unveiled a planned $7 billion buy-out of its Asian
assets and the sale of its Australian assets to local rival AMP
Ltd. []
The sector was also helped by ING, which raised its price
targets on European insurers.
Prudential <PRU.L> was the biggest gainer, up 5.2 percent
with traders saying AXA's <AXAF.PA> decision to buy out its
Asian shares highlights the value of Prudential's own Asian
businesses.
Aviva <AV.L>, which ING rates as "buy", added 3.1 percent,
while Legal and General <LGEN.L>, Standard Life <SL.L> and Old
Mutual <OML.L> rose 2.2 to 4.1 percent.
Among individual stocks, Cadbury <CBRY.L> was up 1.2 percent
as investors awaited news from Kraft <KFT.N>, which has until
1700 GMT on Monday to make its formal takeover bid for the
confectionery group or walk away for six months.
Among the handful of losers were defensive tobacco firms,
which were under pressure from investors demand for riskier
stocks. Imperial Tobacco <IMT.L> and British American Tobacco
<BATS.L> shed 0.5 and 0.7 percent.
(Editing by Karen Foster)
