* FTSE 100 down 0.2 percent
* Barclays slips after QIA sells stake
* Energy stocks drag
* U.S. earnings awaited
By Simon Falush
LONDON, Oct 20 (Reuters) - A sale of Barclays shares by the
Qatari Investment Authority (QIA) dented banking stocks, pulling
Britain's FTSE 100 index slightly lower by midday on Tuesday,
but the move lifted Sainsbury shares by reviving bid talk.
At 1104 GMT, the FTSE 100 <> was down 12.59 points, or
0.2 percent, at 5,268.95, after ending 1.8 percent higher on
Monday at 5,281.54, a new peak for 2009 on the 22nd anniversary
of the "Black Monday" stock market crash of 1987.
Barclays <BARC.L> was a top faller, sliding 4.6 percent on
news Qatar was selling 379 million shares worth over 1.3 billion
pounds ($2.1 billion). []
This led to a jump in supermarket group J Sainsbury shares
<SBRY.L>, up 4.9 percent to top the blue chip leaders board as
traders jumped to the conclusion that Qatar's sovereign wealth
fund was planning a renewed offer for the British grocer.
"It is indicative of the market that a stock will rise if
there's any good or credible talk of takeover," said Jim
Wood-Smith, head of research at Williams de Broe in Exeter.
Sainsbury and the QIA declined to comment.
Other banks were mixed. Heavyweight HSBC <HSBA.L> dropped
0.8 percent after good gains in Monday, while Royal Bank of
Scotland <RBS.L> fell 1.2 percent but Lloyds Banking Group
<LLOY.L> and Standard Chartered <STAN.L> added 0.5 percent and
0.6 percent respectively.
EARNINGS WATCH
Third quarter earnings from the United States have boosted
market sentiment and ensured that equity indexes were close to
13-month highs, and investors will closely watch a further
swathe of results due for release on Tuesday.
Pfizer <PFE.N>, Coca-Cola Co. <KO.N>, State Street <STT.N>,
Caterpillar <CAT.N>, Du Pont <DD.N>, Yahoo <YHOO.O> and Lockheed
Martin <LMT.N> were all scheduled to deliver numbers.
"It's very earnings driven. There have been a very few
companies that have missed the number but enough that have
beaten them by a country mile to help keep markets broadly
firmer," Wood-Smith said.
"Today Caterpillar is key as it's a good bellwether for the
global construction industry."
Energy stocks were under pressure, with crude <CLc1> off 0.5
percent. BP <BP.L>, Royal Dutch Shell <RDSa.L> and Tullow Oil
<TLW.L> shed 0.6-1.2 percent. BG Group <BG.L>, however, rose 1.7
percent supported by an upgrade to 'buy' by Deutsche Bank.
Autonomy <AUTN.L> was the biggest blue-chip faller, down 6.8
percent after the search software company posted Q3 results
which saw gross margin fall to 86 percent from 92 percent a year
ago, due to costs associated with a new product launch.
Miners were a net positive for the index, with players
extending Monday's gains amid optimism over improved demand as
corporate earnings recover.
Rio Tinto <RIO.L>, Kazakhmys <KAZ.L>, Randgold Resources
<RRS.L>, and Lonmin <LMI.L> rose 0.8-1.4 percent.
Xstrata <XTA.L> reversed early gains, falling 0.3 percent as
investors mulled third-quarter production data showing more coal
production but lower ore grades that cut copper output.
[]
Pearson <PSON.L> climbed 2.4 percent after the publishing
group raised full-year guidance, saying it expected adjusted
earnings of at least 60 pence per share following a strong
performance from its education business. []
(Reporting by Simon Falush; Editing by Dan Lalor)
