* FTSE 100 flat at midday
* Banks mixed; JPMorgan Q2 earnings beat expectations
* Miners, oils fall on worries about global recovery
By Tricia Wright
LONDON, July 15 (Reuters) - Britain's top shares were flat
on Thursday as strong quarterly results from U.S. giant JPMorgan
Chase & Co <JPM.N> buoyed banks, countering weaker commodity
stocks hit by worries about the health of the global economy.
By 1130 GMT, the FTSE 100 <> was up 1.00 point at
5,254.52, after it ended down 0.3 percent on Wednesday, snapping
a six day winning streak.
Banks, which had weighed heavily on the blue chip index
earlier in the session, were supported after JPMorgan posted
higher second-quarter earnings, beating analysts' expectations,
after setting aside less money for loan losses. []
HSBC <HSBA.L>, Lloyds Banking Group <LLOY.L> and Royal Bank
of Scotland <RBS.L> climbed 0.2-0.6 percent, but Barclays
<BARC.L> and Standard Chartered <STAN.L> fell 1.9 percent and
0.1 percent respectively.
Mining stocks fell after data from China showed a slowdown
in economic growth in the second quarter.
Kazakhmys <KAZ.L> was the worst off, shedding 0.8 percent,
while Rio Tinto <RIO.L>, hit too by a target price cut from
Deutsche Bank in the wake of its production update on Wednesday,
fell 0.7 percent.
Annual gross domestic product growth in China, the world's
largest consumer of metals, moderated to 10.3 percent in the
second quarter from 11.9 percent in the first quarter, slightly
below forecasts of 10.5 percent growth. []
Also darkening the mood were minutes of the Federal
Reserve's June meeting which showed officials were more
concerned with the pace of the U.S. recovery. []
"It's a bit of a muted reaction (to the JPMorgan earnings)
... I think today's focus is very much on the numbers from China
and maybe a bit of a hangover from the revision downwards to
growth by the U.S.," said Angus Campbell, head of sales at
Capital Spreads.
It was a similar story with energy stocks, with Royal Dutch
Shell <RDSa.L> off 0.6 percent, and BP <BP.L> 0.1 percent lower.
U.S. lawmakers have added an amendment to an oil rig safety
bill that, if passed, could stop BP obtaining new offshore oil
leases because of its safety record, The Financial Times said.
BP on Thursday faced further delays to a test on its
ruptured Gulf of Mexico oil well that could staunch the flow of
crude that has polluted the ocean since April. []
GLAXO BUOYANT
GlaxoSmithKline <GSK.L> rose 2 percent after U.S. health
advisers said on Wednesday its diabetes drug Avandia should be
allowed to stay on the market but with additional warnings,
easing a threat of further costly litigation that could have
resulted in a ban. []
Peer Shire <SHP.L> put on 1 percent, as sector investors
welcomed news from Swiss drugmaker Novartis <NOVN.VX>, which
raised its full-year sales goal. []
Among individual movers, Experian <EXPN.L> rose 2.5 percent
after the credit information company issued a "positive"
first-quarter trading statement, leading JPMorgan Cazenove to
repeat its "overweight" stance on the stock. []
Investors were waiting for June U.S. producer price numbers,
initial weekly jobless claims, and the July Empire State Index
to be released at 1230 GMT. June industrial output and capital
utilization numbers are due at 1315 GMT, and the Philly Fed
Index for July is due at 1500 GMT.
(Editing by Sharon Lindores)
