* FTSE up 0.4 percent
* Miners, energy stocks in favour as commodities rise
* Cadbury up; Ferrero considers options
* Morrison loses CEO to Marks & Spencer
By David Brett
LONDON, Nov 18 (Reuters) - Britain's top share index was up
0.4 percent at midday on Wednesday, helped by strength in mining
and energy shares which were underpinned by firmer commodity
prices, offsetting a defensive drag as risk appetite hardened.
At 1155 GMT, the FTSE 100 <> was up 20.98 points at
5366.91, after closing 0.7 percent lower on Tuesday.
"The UK market is being underpinned by mining stocks ...
Dollar weakness is also keeping commodities at decent levels,"
said Anthony Grech, market strategist at IG Index.
"A sharp (dollar) rally may have the further knock-on effect
of pushing down the heavily-weighted mining and energy sectors
on the FTSE. However, the recent year-highs for equity markets
will have bolstered confidence," he said.
Miners rebounded following a bout of profit taking on
Tuesday, against a backdrop of firmer metals prices with gold
<XAU=> hitting another high as the dollar continued to retreat.
Vedanta Resources <VED.L> rose 3 percent helped by a target
price hike from UBS. Eurasian Natural Resources <ENRC.L>,
Fresnillo <FRES.L>, Rio Tinto <RIO.L> and Anglo American <AAL.L>
added 1.1-5.9 percent.
Antofagasta <ANTO.L> rose 1.3 percent after saying its
mining arm was on track to meet a 2009 copper output target and
improve earnings for the rest of the year. []
Energy stocks gained as crude oil <CLc1> rose 0.6 percent
after industry inventory data showed a larger than expected
drawdown in U.S. domestic crude stocks last week.
BG Group <BG.L>, BP <BP.L> and Royal Dutch Shell <RDSa.L>
put on 0.4 percent to 1 percent.
Cadbury <CBRY.L> rose 1.3 percent as Hershey <HSY.N> and
Italy's Ferrero issued statements confirming they were reviewing
their options with regard to British confectioner.
It was not immediately clear whether the companies were
reviewing a possible joint bid to challenge the existing bid
from U.S. food group Kraft <KFT.N>.
Experian <EXPN.L> was up 1.9 percent as the credit
information company's first-half profit beat expectations and
the company said it was on track to increase full-year profit.
WM MORRISON LOSES CEO
Wm Morrison <MRW.L> fell 4.1 percent after news its chief
executive, Marc Bolland, was to take up the role at Marks and
Spencer <MKS.L> which was up 5.2 percent. Sainsbury <SBRY.L> and
Tesco <TSCO.L> dropped 1.6 percent and 1.2 percent respectively.
Tobacco firms, seen as defensive stocks, were under pressure
as risk appetite returned with British American Tobacco <BATS.L>
and Imperial Tobacco <IMT.L> down up to 1.8 percent.
Wolseley <WOS.L> fell 3.4 percent after the building
supplies company said market conditions were still challenging
when reporting weaker quarterly sales and profit.
Capita <CPI.L> shed 4.5 percent after the company reported
an in-line third quarter, with analysts attributing the fall to
a shift the company's valuation compared to peers.
Vodafone <VOD.L>, HSBC <HSBA.L> and Unilever <ULVR.L> fell
after trading ex-dividend.
On the second tier, ITV <ITV.L> was up 5.6 percent after
naming former ASDA <WMT.N> boss Archie Norman as non-executive
chairman, bringing an end to a fraught seven-month search.
Sterling fell against the dollar and the euro, while
equities rose after minutes of the latest Bank of England
meeting revealed a three-way split on quantitative easing at the
Nov 4-5 meeting. []
U.S. CPI and U.S. housing starts data should attract
attention later on Wednesday.
