FTSE buoyed by trading updates; miners, financials up

                                
 * FTSE 100 rises 1.4 pct
                                
 * Miners boosted by Xstrata, Kazakhmys production data
                                
 * Admiral leads financials up; Next drags
                                
 
                                
 By Michael Taylor
                                
 LONDON, July 30 (Reuters) - Britain's leading share index
gained over 1 percent on Wednesday, buoyed by positive sentiment
from U.S. and Asian markets and as mining and financials rose
among a flurry of trading updates, while retailer Next fell.
                                
 At 1028 GMT the FTSE 100 <.FTSE> 73.2 points, or 1.4 percent
higher at 5,392.4 after ticking up 0.1 percent on Tuesday to
halt a three-session losing run.
                                
 Mining shares were among the leading performers after
Xstrata <XTA.L> said it expected a "significantly" stronger
second-half performance across its portfolio after posting a 1.1
percent fall in first-half mined copper output and a 6.1 percent
fall in mined nickel production.
                                
 Xstrata added 3.1 percent while BHP Billiton <BLT.L>, Rio
Tinto <RIO.L>, Anglo American <AAL.L>, Lonmin <LMI.L> Vedanta
Resources <VED.L> and Eurasian Natural Resources <ENRC.L> gained
2.4-6.1 percent.
                                
 Copper producer Kazakhmys <KAZ.L> rose 1.3 percent after it
said it saw a recovery in second-quarter copper cathode
production after weather problems in the previous quarter, but
output was still down 1.4 percent year-on-year.
                                
 "It's more like relief at the moment," said Justin Urquhart
Stewart, director at Seven Investment Management. "We just
reached the clearing in the woods, but it looks like a very
thick forest on the other side."
                                
 Banks were among the standout gainers, lifted by a rise in
U.S. financials overnight. Barclays <BARC.L>, Royal Bank of
Scotland <RBS.L>, HSBC <HSBA.L>, HBOS <HBOS.L> and Standard
Chartered <STAN.L> were up between 1.3 and 4.2 percent.
                                
 Lloyds TSB <LLOY.L> shed 4.9 percent to top the FTSE 100
losers' list however, after it said first-half profit fell 70
percent from a year ago as it took a 585 million pound hit from
its exposure to risky assets and adverse volatility in its
insurance arm. [ID:nL0580177]
                                
 Also in the financial sector, Admiral Group <ADML.L> soared
6.2 percent after the UK car insurer said the outlook was
encouraging, and that it was confident it could maintain good
ancillary income despite the consumer downturn.
                                
 Aviva <AV.L> was up 5.5 percent after the insurer reported a
12 percent rise in first-half profit and announced a
long-awaited deal to reallocate surplus assets held by two
with-profit funds. [ID:nL0606051]
                                
 Prudential <PRU.L>, Standard Life <SL.L> and Old Mutual
<OML.L> strengthened 2.7 to 4.5 percent.
"It's following on from Wall Street," said David Scott, a
senior stockbroker at Redmayne-Bentley, of the UK stock market.
                                
 "It's mildly encouraging in the short-term but the bigger
picture is that we've got a welter of results out this week and
they are likely to have a big impact on things."
                                
 "We're still trending downwards, it's just that the market
never travels in a straight line," he said.
                                
 
                                
 NEXT PULLS RETAILERS DOWN
                                
 Among other decliners, Next <NXT.L> lost 1.9 percent after
the British clothing retailer posted a 6 percent fall in
first-half underlying sales, in line with forecasts, and said it
expected a similar decline in the second half amid a worsening
economy.
                                
 "Today's statement again underlines the retrenchment which
UK consumers are suffering, further compounded by the
increasingly erratic weather," said Keith Bowman, an equity
analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown Stockbrokers. "Retailing is an
extremely difficult place to be, with the clothing arena looking
particularly vulnerable to consumer 'belt tightening'."
                                
 Among other retailers, Marks & Spencer <MKS.L>, Sainsbury
<SBRY.L> and Wm Morrison <MRW.L> slipped 0.5 to 1.5 percent.
                                
 Rexam <REX.L>, the world's biggest drinks can maker, surged
6.6 percent after it posted a 61 percent leap in first-half
profits and said there was no change in its expectations for the
second half. [ID:nL0580454]
                                
 Confectionery giant Cadbury <CBRY.L> put on 1 percent after
posting a 46 percent rise in first-half profits and saying it
was confident for 2008 with sales growth seen at the top of its
target and margins ahead of the market consensus. [ID:nL9216387]
                                
 (Additional reporting by Dominic Lau; editing by Elaine
Hardcastle)