* Carphone pares losses after 19 pct drop to lifetime low
* Energy and mining sectors lend support
* Retailers suffer on tough trading outlook
By Dominic Lau
LONDON, June 12 (Reuters) - Britain's top share index
bounced back with a gain of 0.8 percent by midday on Thursday
after a four-day losing run, as rising oil and mining stocks
offset a slump in Carphone Warehouse <CPW.L> and retailers.
By 1121 GMT, the FTSE 100 <> was up 45.9 points at
5,768.8 after shedding 1.8 percent on Wednesday to hit its
lowest closing level since March 31.
"When we get a market which has been generally negative for
so long, then obviously you are going to get days when you have
a bit of bounce," said Peter Dixon, UK economist at Commerzbank.
Dixon added energy shares were doing well, and oil majors
could still extract a significant premium from each barrel of
oil sold, and would do so for some considerable time.
"(But) it's difficult to remain positive. Equities generally
are going to take a cue from what happens in the U.S."
A tough trading outlook weighed on Home Retail <HOME.L>,
Britain's biggest household goods retailer, which posted flat
first-quarter underlying sales at its main Argos chain. Home
Retail fell nearly 7 percent.
The Times quoted Philip Green, who owns the Topshop fashion
chain, as saying that the worst of the credit crunch has yet to
hit the high street, offering the latest sign that retailers may
not feel its full effects until next year.
"The credit market crisis is well into the second half,"
said Howard Wheeldon, senior strategist at BGC Partners.
"It's going to get a lot worse before it gets better ... You
could say this is the delayed-action shock that a lot of people
were expecting for much of the last six to nine months. It's now
turning into reality."
Carphone Warehouse fell by as much as 19 percent to hit an
all-time low before trimming losses, after Europe's biggest
independent mobile retailer said broadband demand slowed and was
cautious about the year ahead. Carphone Warehouse was still down
8 percent after 17.5 million shares had changed hands by 1121
GMT, compared with a 30-day daily average of 8.54 million.
RETAIL SECTOR UNDER PRESSURE
Britain's general retail sector <.FTASX5370> has fallen 20
percent in the past month, and 12 percent in the past week, as a
string of data has pointed to a slowing economy, while rising
inflation has damped hopes of interest rates cuts.
Within the retail sector, Next <NXT.L>, Kingfisher <KGF.L>
and Debenhams <DEB.L> were down between 0.8 and 5.2 percent.
Tougher lending terms have forced Britain's first-time home
buyers to put down average deposits of 13 percent in April, the
highest level in more than three years, the Council of Mortgage
Lenders said. []
Oil shares were generally in demand, with BP <BP.L> adding
0.8 percent and Royal Dutch Shell <RDSa.L> rising 0.3 percent.
Miners also gained, with BHP Billiton <BLT.L>, Rio Tinto
<RIO.L>, Vedanta Resources <VED.L>, Lonmin <LMI.L>, Antofagasta
<ANTO.L> and Anglo American <AAL.L> up between 0.7 and 3.3
percent.
Investors awaited U.S. retail sales at 1230 GMT for further
insight into the health of U.S. consumer spending. U.S. index
futures pointed to a higher opening on the Wall Street.
Traders said short-covering pushed shares in HBOS <HBOS.L>
up 13.5 percent. Royal Bank of Scotland <RBS.L>, Standard
Chartered <STAN.L>, HSBC <HSBA.L> and Lloyds TSB <LLOY.L> gained
between 0.5 and 5.0 percent.
(Additional reporting by Michael Taylor and Atul Prakash,
editing by Will Waterman)
