(Repeats to detach from text of an earlier story)
* Banks, energy firms dip
* U.S. non-farm payrolls eyed at 1330 GMT
* Defensive utilities, drugmakers gain
By Simon Falush
LONDON, Dec 4 (Reuters) - Caution ahead of a key jobs report
from the United States weighed on banks and other cyclical
stocks, pushing Britain's FTSE 100 <> share index 0.5
percent lower by midsession on Friday.
By 1216 GMT the FTSE 100 was down 28.59 points at 5,284.41,
tracking weakness in Asia and on Wall Street overnight after
data showed that the U.S. services sector unexpectedly shrank in
November.
Volumes on the index were thin as investors stayed on the
sidelines ahead of the U.S. non-farm payrolls data at 1330 GMT.
Employers are expected to have shed by 130,000 in November,
after a 190,000 decline in October.
"Soggy is the word," said Peter Dixon, economist at
Commerzbank. "There's caution, we're within two hours of the
payrolls report and investors squared their positions and are
awaiting the kick-off in the U.S."
Banks took most points from the index, with Barclays
<BARC.L>, HSBC <HSBA.L>, Lloyds Banking Group <LLOY.L>, Royal
Bank of Scotland <RBS.L> and Standard Chartered <STAN.L> off 1.2
to 4.1 percent.
The price tag for bailing out UK banks has hit 850 billion
pounds ($1.4 trillion) but Britain's spending watchdog says the
final cost to taxpayers will not be known for years, according
to the independent National Audit Office. []
Adding more gloom to the sector, a survey showed that
failing commercial property loans pose a growing threat to
Britain's banking sector revival, after the sum of debts
breaching covenants soared by 75 percent to 18.7 billion pounds
in the first half of 2009 []
Mining firms were mixed as metals prices edged down and
copper prices eased away from 15-month highs hit earlier in the
session. Broker Nomura released a bullish note on the sector and
raised the target price for several mining firms.
Anglo American <AAL.L>, BHP Billiton <BLT.L>, Lonmin <LMI.L>
and Xstrata <XTA.L> shed 0.8 to 1.4 percent.
Kazakhmys <KAZ.L>, Eurasian Natural Resources <ENRC.L>, and
Rio Tinto <RIO.L> rose 0.5 to 1.3 percent.
BA CLIMBS
British Airways <BAY.L> was among the top blue chip gainers,
up 1.2 percent, after Citigroup raised its recommendation to
"buy" from "hold" and upped the airline's price target based on
valuation of a merged entity with Spain's Iberia <IBLA.MC>.
Defensive companies also gained ground as cautious investors
shifted to stocks perceived as safer bets.
Drugmakers AstraZeneca <AZN.L> and GlaxoSmithKline <GSK.L>
were up 1.2 and 0.7 percent respectively, while British American
Tobacco <BATS.L> and Imperial Tobacco <IMT.L> gained 0.5 and 0.8
percent respectively.
Food producer AB Foods <ABF.L> added 1.3 percent helped by
an encouraging trading statetement. []
But confectioner Cadbury <CBRY.L> lost 0.2 percent. Sources
with knowledge of the situation said Kraft Foods <KFT.N> will
post its offer document to Cadbury shareholders on Friday,
triggering the start of the regulatory two-month period allowed
for conducting the takeover battle. [].
Other data due later in the session are the U.S. average
hourly earnings at 1330 GMT and U.S. October factory orders at
1500 GMT. No significant UK economic data is scheduled for
release on Friday.
($1=.6030 pounds)
(Additional reporting by Harpreet Bhal; Editing by Greg
Mahlich)
((simon.falush@reuters.com. +44 20 7542 7681) Reuters
Messaging: simon.falush.reuters.com@reuters.net))
