* Oils hold firm; crude slips back on Opec news
* Heavyweight banks, pharmas and Vodafone in demand
* UK Q3 GDP revised up less than expected
By Jon Hopkins
LONDON, Dec 22 (Reuters) - Britain's leading share index was
1.0 percent higher around midday on Tuesday as a broad-based
pre-Christmas rally led by energy issues took hold following the
release of slightly disappointing GDP numbers.
At 1156 GMT, the FTSE 100 index <> was up 54.36 points
at 5,348.35, having closed 1.9 percent higher on Monday its
biggest one-day percentage gain since Dec. 1.
"Finally there are signs that Santa has turned up for the
obligatory Christmas rally, although perhaps a little bit less
generous than seen in previous years," said Henk Potts, market
strategist at Barclays Wealth.
Investors shrugged aside a slightly disappointing final
reading for British third-quarter GDP, with the quarterly
contraction only revised back to -0.2 percent, from the -0.3
percent seen at the first revision, and the year-on-year figure
unchanged at -5.1 percent. []
"Third-quarter GDP was not revised up as much as expected,
with the UK economy still in recession ... (and) although growth
is expected to return in the fourth-quarter the outlook is still
very poor indeed," Potts said.
Energy issues were the top blue chips performers although
crude prices <CLc1> slipped back below $74 a barrel after OPEC,
as expected, agreed to roll over its production targets
following a meeting in Luanda. []
Royal Dutch Shell <RDSa.L>, BG Group <BG.L>, BP <BP.L> and
Tullow Oil <TLW.L> added 0.6 to 2.7 percent.
Cairn Energy <CNE.L> was the top FTSE 100 riser, up 4.7
percent after the company's 10-for-1 share split took effect.
Cairn's shares closed at their highest level since June 2008
on Monday after the explorer said it had secured a rig to allow
it to commence a drilling programme offshore western Greenland.
Defensive issues, traditionally laggards in a bull market,
were also higher as the pre-Christmas rally took hold.
Pharmaceutical firms AstraZeneca <AZN.L> and GlaxoSmithKline
<GSK.L> rose 1.7 percent and 2.5 percent respectively, while
tobacco giants British American Tobacco <BATS.L> and Imperial
Tobacco <IMT.L> gained 0.8 and 1.9 percent.
Mobile telecoms heavyweight Vodafone <VOD.L> added 1.1
percent following an upbeat interview with the firm's head of UK
business, Guy Laurence in the Financial Times. []
Banks were higher across the board as HSBC <HSBA.L>
recovered from earlier falls, taking on 0.8 percent, with
Barclays <BARC.L>, Lloyds Banking Group <LLOY.L> and Standard
Chartered <STAN.L> adding between 0.2 and 1.3 percent.
MINERS MIXED
Miners were mixed, although higher overall as the gold price
<XAU=> rose benefitting from a weaker dollar. Kazakhmys <KAZ.L>,
Eurasian Natural Resources <ENRC.L>, BHP Billiton <BLT.L> and
Rio Tinto <RIO.L> added 0.1 to 0.5 percent.
But Xstrata <XTA.L>, Vedanta Resources <VED.L> and Fresnillo
<FRES.L> missed out, falling 0.6 to 0.9 percent.
British Airways <BAY.L> was the top FTSE 100 faller, down
1.2 percent as the winter storms in Europe continued to cause
travel chaos, and following a U.S. ruling on the airline's
planned link-up with American Airlines <AMR.N>.
American Airlines and British Airways should agree to
concessions to secure approval of a bid to deepen their
transatlantic alliance, the U.S. Justice Department said on
Monday. []
Travel group Thomas Cook <TCG.L> was also hit by concerns
over the travel problems experienced in the UK and Europe after
the heavier than usual snowfalls, shedding 0.8 percent.
On the second-line, housebuilders were good performers, led
by Barratt Developments <BDEV.L> and Taylor Wimpey <TW.L>, which
were gained 2.0 and 3.6 percent respectively, after Goldman
Sachs upped both stocks on valuation grounds in a sector review.
U.S. stock futures <SPc1>, <DJc1>, <NDc1> pointed to early
gains on Wall Street on Tuesday, extending Monday's advance,
although some key U.S. data will need to be digested.
The final reading for U.S. third-quarter GDP will be
unveiled at 13.30 GMT this afternoon, followed by November U.S.
existing home sales data at 1500 GMT.
(Editing by Mike Nesbit)
