By Patrizia Kokot
LONDON, May 28 (Reuters) - Britain's leading share index,
the FTSE 100, was up midday on Wednesday as insurance stocks
rose on the back of acquisition interest, more than offsetting
falls in commodity stocks, which tracked oil and metals prices.
At 1100 GMT the FTSE 100 <> was up 0.33 percent, or
20.2 points, at 6,078.7.
Insurers were among the top gainers as the deadline for bids
for Royal Bank of Scotland's <RBS.L> insurance business neared,
and reports suggested strong interest, even though Italy's
Generali <GASI.MI> pulled out of the process.
Aviva <AV.L> added 2.8 percent, while Friends Provident
<FP.L> gained 2 percent, also helped when JP Morgan raised its
investment recommendation on the stock to "overweight".
Legal & General <LGEN.L> advanced 2.2 percent and Admiral
Group <ADML.L> rose 4 percent.
"It is boosting confidence a little bit in the sector, that
a lot of people may be interested in that part of the business,"
a local trader said.
Among other gainers, Morrison Supermarkets <MRW.L> rose 2.7
percent after Credit Suisse raised its rating on the stock to
"outperform" from "neutral" and said there was potential for the
group to exceed analysts' expectations.
The FTSE is down 0.1 percent this month after rising nearly
7 percent in April and nearly 14 percent from its year low in
January.
British stocks are still down 10 percent from seven-year
highs hit in July last year, led lower by banks hit by the
credit market crisis.
COMMODITIES HIT
A large part of the stock market rebound since March has
been due to a surge in commodity prices, but oil and mining
stocks took a breather on Wednesday.
Vedanta Resources <VED.L> lost 2.9 percent, while BHP
Billiton <BLT.L> retreated 2.2 percent, and Xstrata <XTA.L> fell
1.9 percent.
Index heavyweight oil stocks fell, with BP <BP.L> slipping
1.6 percent, and Royal Dutch Shell <RDSa.L> down 0.9 percent.
Cairn Energy <CNE.L> fell 2 percent, and Tullow Oil <TLW.L> 2.9
percent.
Among banking stocks, Barclays <BARC.L> was also in the
spotlight, down 0.1 percent and lagging its peers after it
published a figure that suggested analysts on average expect its
2008 earnings to be 8 percent lower than a previous estimate.
British Energy <BGY.L> fell 1.9 percent after the utility
released full-year earnings ahead of expectations, but failed to
reassure investors on the number of bidders in the race for the
stake the British government is selling.
Analysts also pointed to concerns over the group's Sizewell
reactor, which suffered an unplanned shutdown on Tuesday.
(Reporting by Patrizia Kokot, editing by Will Waterman)
