* FTSE 100 up 0.1 percent; oil price supports energy stocks
* Banks biggest losers on bleak HBOS view of housing market
* Retailers buoyed by strong sales data
By Simon Falush
LONDON, June 19 (Reuters) - Britain's top share index ticked
up by midday on Thursday as high oil prices supported energy
stocks and retailers were boosted by sales data, offsetting
falls among banks caused by sinking confidence on housing.
By 1044 GMT the FTSE 100 index <> was up 6.5 points, or
0.1 percent at 5,762.8 after falling 1.8 percent on Wednesday.
Marks & Spencer <MKS.L> and Britain's largest grocer, Tesco
<TSCO.L>, were up 2.1 and 1.5 percent respectively after British
retail sales for May were at their strongest since April 2002.
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This contrasted with a series of soft data in recent months,
but analysts remained downbeat on the outlook for the UK
economy.
"(The retail data) has given the market a fillip but there's
little doubt that the economy is heading for a slowdown," said
Richard Hunter, head of UK equities at Hargreaves Lansdown. "The
market is rangebound and it's difficult to identify anything
that's going to lift it higher."
Banks were the biggest losers as Britain's largest mortgage
lender, HBOS <HBOS.L>, said it was trading in line with
expectations but warned higher writedowns would hit its first
half as UK house prices fall faster than expected.
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The poor quality of bank assets and concerns about an ailing
housing market have dragged banks down across the board.
HBOS fell 4.5 percent and Alliance & Leicester <ALLL.L> was
down 5 percent while Barclays <BARC.L> lost 2.3 percent.
UK stocks were also weighed down by wider weakness in stock
markets, with European, U.S. and Japanese bourses all down.
Stronger oil prices supported energy companies, however,
with crude oil futures <CLc1> near $136 a barrel.
"We reiterate our bullish call on the Energy sector in
Europe based on strong expected EPS growth and free cash flow
generation for the integrated oils," Goldman Sachs said in a
research note.
"We continue to have a positive stance on (energy) companies
due to good visibility on revenue growth and M&A potential."
ENERGY BOOSTER
Cairn Energy <CNE.L> jumped 2.7 percent, while BG Group
<BG.L> was up 2.6 percent and BP <BP.L> up 1.3 percent.
In the mining sector, Eurasian Natural Resources <ENRC.L>
was up 2.6 percent, but Antofagasta <ANTO.L> fell 2.5 percent.
The world's largest confectionery group, Cadbury <CBRY.L>,
was up 1.1 percent after it said it expected second-quarter
sales growth would be moderately higher than the 7 percent seen
in the first quarter.
Transport stocks were boosted after bus and train operator
Go-Ahead Group <GOG.L> said it expects a strong full-year
performance driven by revenue growth and excellent train
performance.
FTSE 250-listed Go-Ahead rose 16.3 percent while rival
operator FirstGroup <FGP.L> topped the gainers in the blue-chip
index, rising 3.5 percent.
On the economic front, Bank of England Governor Mervyn King
said on Wednesday the British economy was slowing and had to do
so to help cool inflation.
A toxic combination of high inflation and slowing growth has
been weighing on the housing market, denting housebuilding
stocks. Persimmon <PSN.L> fell 3.4 percent.
King will be held to account by a new Financial Stability
Committee as the central bank faces its biggest shake-up since
it was made independent by the Labour government in 1997. BoE
Deputy Governor John Gieve announced on Wednesday he would quit
prematurely next year.
(Editing by Quentin Bryar)
