* Oils down; crude anchored below $80 a barrel
* Banks weighed by potential U.S. tax levy, Soc Gen warning
* Defensives sought as risk appetite wanes
By David Brett
LONDON, Jan 13 (Reuters) - Britain's top share index fell
0.4 percent in midday trade on Wednesday, with losses in energy
stocks and banks outpacing gains in defensives, as investors
remain jittery over the extent of the economic recovery.
At 1157 GMT, the FTSE 100 <> was down 24.12 points at
5,474.59, having closed down 0.7 percent at 5,498.71, hurt by
China's decision to tighten banks' reserve requirements and
jitters over the forthcoming earning season in the United
States.
"The China news is having an effect as well as earnings
issues with Alcoa reporting lower than analysts estimates. We've
had a fantastic run up, so it looks like the markets are having
a bit of a pull back," said Manoj Ladwa, senior trader at ETX
Capital.
Energy issues remained depressed for a second successive
session weighed by crude prices <CLc1>, which anchored below $80
per barrel following the news from China. []
BP <BP.L>, Cairn Energy <CNE.L> and Tullow Oil <TLW.L> shed
0.8-1 percent.
Royal Dutch Shell <RDSa.L> shed 1.8 percent, also weighed by
market talk that the company was guiding analysts to reduce
their forecasts for the oil major's fourth-quarter earnings, as
well as a downgrade by Morgan Stanley. []
BG Group <BG.L> bucked the trend, up 0.3 percent as Collins
Stewart raised its target price and repeated its "buy" rating.
Banks were also in the mire as investors continued to mull
over a potential U.S. government levy on banks and also not
helped by France's Societe Generale <SOGN.PA>, which issued a
profit warning. []
Lloyds Banking Group <LLOY.L>, HSBC <HSBA.L> and Barclays
<BARC.L> lost 0.4 percent to 1.6 percent.
Travel and leisure firms also found the going tough with
Thomas Cook <TCG.L>, TUI Travel <TT.L>, Compass Group <CPG.L>
and Whitbread <WTB.L> down between 0.2 and 1.1 percent.
DEFENSIVE SUPPORT
Defensives featured highly on the risers chart as risk
appetite waned on the uncertain outlook, with utilities,
telecommunications and food retailers featuring prominently.
Centrica <CNA.L>, National Grid <NG.L> and BT Group <BT.L>
were up 0.7-2.2 percent.
Supermarkets extended gains from Tuesday when Tesco
<TSCO.L>, the world's fourth-biggest retailer, smashed Christmas
sales growth forecasts in its main British market.
Tesco was up 1.2 percent, while peer Wm. Morrison <MRW.L>
added 1.1 percent and J Sainsbury <SBRY.L> gained 0.5 percent.
[]
Among individual risers, Schroders <SDR.L> advanced 1.6
percent after HSBC upgraded its stance on the fund manager to
"overweight" from "underweight".
Miners provided some support for the FTSE, preventing the
index sustaining even deeper losses as most raw metal prices
recovered some losses from the session.
Kazakhmys <KAZ.L> rose 0.4 percent after agreeing a further
facility of $200 million relating to the potential development
of several existing mines. []
Other gainers in the sector included Fresnillo <FRES.L>, BHP
Billiton <BLT.L>, Rio Tinto <RIO.L>, which added 0.3 to 0.6
percent.
Insurer's also featured as Admiral <ADML.L> topped the riser
chart, gaining 2.2 percent after BofA Merrill Lynch raised its
target price, with RSA Insurance <RSA.L> also up 0.4 percent.
Meanwhile mid-cap insurer and wealth manager St James's
Place <SJP.L> added 3.4 percent after BofA Merrill Lynch
upgraded its recommendation to "buy" from "neutral", citing
recovering asset levels and valuation as catalysts.
(Editing by Mike Nesbit)
