* Banks weak; Dubai debt worries hit sentiment
* Oil majors fall back with weak crude price
* Miners rally on bargain-hunting after sell-off
By Jon Hopkins
LONDON, Nov 27 (Reuters) - Britain's leading share index was
0.2 percent lower by midsession on Friday, falling for a second
session with banks pressured by persisting anxiety over Dubai's
debt default and oil majors weak with the crude price.
At 1157 GMT, the FTSE 100 <> was down 10.17 points at
5,183.96, having tumbled 3.2 percent on Thursday, its biggest
one-day drop in eight months.
Banks were the biggest drag amid concerns over the health of
the global financial system after Dubai on Wednesday sought a
debt standstill for state-owned Dubai World.
Global heavyweight HSBC <HSBA.L> shed 1.5 percent, while
emerging markets-focused Standard Chartered <STAN.L> dropped 2.7
percent as investors fretted over possible exposure to Dubai.
But Barclays <BARC.L> and Royal Bank of Scotland <RBS.L>
rallied 1.1 and 2.8 percent higher, respectively, as some
traders thought that Thursday's sharp falls were overdone.
"The Dubai concerns are an issue but not a real shock. It's
more a question of timing with the lack of market participants
due to the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday yesterday and the Muslim
Eid holiday today exaggerating the moves," said Mic Mills,
senior trader at ETX Capital.
"Investors were also selling stock across the board
yesterday to raise cash to take up Lloyds Banking Group's record
rights issue, so this also drained liquidity," said Mills.
Lloyds shares <LLOY.L> dropped 3.3 percent as they traded
ex-rights on Friday following overwhelming investor support for
the bank's 13.5 billion pound cash call. []
The index is down around 1.6 percent this week but has
gained 2.5 percent this month and is still up 49 percent since
touching a six-year low in March.
Energy issues were mostly lower as crude prices <CLc1> fell
nearly 5 percent, with BP <BP.L> and Royal Dutch Shell <RDSa.L>
off 0.2 percent and 0.2 percent respectively, although BG Group
<BG.L> added 0.3 percent.
Heavyweight pharma stocks were weak, with AstraZeneca
<AZN.L> and GlaxoSmithKline <GSK.L> down 0.5 and 0.8 percent,
respectively.
Retail issues eased, led by Home Retail Group <HOME.L>, off
1.9 percent, and Next <NXT.L>, down 1.6 percent as Goldman Sachs
downgraded its rating of both in a major European sector review.
Electricals retailers Kesa Electricals <KESA.L> and DSG
International <DSGI.L> lost 5.6 and 2.7 percent respectively as
Goldman also downgraded both mid cap stocks as well.
Luxury goods group Burberry <BRBY.L> added 1.9 percent after
Goldman raised its rating to "neutral" from "sell".
Miners were the top performing sector, helped by
bargain-hunters after sharp falls on Thursday although metal
prices remained weak. Xstrata <XTA.L> and Rio Tinto <RIO.L>
stood out, up 2.3 and 2.5 percent.
Life insurers also recovered from falls on Thursday, with
Prudential <PRU.L>, Legal & General <LGEN.L>, Aviva <AV.L> and
Resolution <RSL.L> up 1.7 to 2.2 percent.
Prudential was upgraded by Citigroup in a sector review on
Thursday but failed to react then.
Thomas Cook Group <TCH.L> was the top FTSE 100 riser, up 3.3
percent as investors looked ahead to the tour operator's
full-year results due on Monday.
Peer TUI Travel <TT.L> added 1.3 percent with its results
due next Tuesday.
(Editing by David Cowell)
((jon.hopkins@reuters.com; +44 207 542 8954; Reuters
Messaging:jon.hopkins.reuters.com@reuters.net))
