* FTSE 100 down 0.3 percent
* Miners, oils fall as commodities weaker
* Banks slip as nerves persist
* Travel companies fall on Morgan Stanley downgrade
By Simon Falush
LONDON, Nov 20 (Reuters) - Britain's top share index was
lower at midday on Friday, with gains in defensive
pharmaceutical stocks and food producers outweighed by weakness
in banks and energy stocks.
By 1158 GMT, the FTSE 100 <> was down 0.3 percent or
15.28 points at 5252.48 after closing down 1.4 percent on
Thursday, its biggest one-day fall for three weeks and third
daily loss in a row.
But the index is still up 18.4 percent this year and 55
percent higher since touching a six-year trough in March.
"The market ran up on the basis of more encouraging economic
data, now its a matter of waiting to see if there's follow
through or if there's a lag in momentum," said Tim Rees, fund
manager at Insight Investment.
Banks were down as risk appetite remained fragile. Europe's
largest bank HSBC <HSBA.L> gained 0.7 percent, while Barclays
<BARC.L>, Standard Chartered <STAN.L>, Lloyds Banking Group
<LLOY.L> and Royal Bank of Scotland fell 0.2-2.2 percent.
Miners were mostly weaker, tracking softer metal prices.
Fresnillo <FRES.L>, Rio Tinto <RIO.L>, Antofagasta <ANTO.L>,
Anglo American <AAL.L> and Vedanta Resources <VED.L> fell
0.3-2.1 percent.
Energy issues fell, weighed by slightly lower crude <CLc1>.
Royal Dutch Shell <RDSa.L>, and BP <BP.L> were both down 0.6
percent.
BG Group <BG.L> held steady as UBS upped its target price to
1,120 pence from 1,060 pence.
Thomas Cook <TCG.L> and TUI Travel <TT.L> shed 5.8 percent
and 5.4 percent respectively, the two top fallers on the FTSE
100 <> after Morgan Stanley downgraded its rating for the
travel companies on a weak operating environment.
DEFENSIVES FIRMER
SABMiller <SAB.L> extended Thursday's gain, rising 0.6
percent as a raft of brokers upgraded their target price for the
world's No. 2 brewer, after the company reported its first-half
results in the previous session. Diageo Plc <DGE.L>, the world's
biggest spirits group, added 0.3 percent.
Other defensive stocks were also in favour with tobacco
company Imperial Tobacco <IMT.L> up 0.4 percent.
Pharmaceuticals were mostly higher, GlaxoSmithKline <GSK.L>
and Shire <SHP.L> were up 0.5 percent and 1.2 percent
respectively, but AstraZeneca <AZN.L> slipped 0.2 percent.
Cable & Wireless <CW.L> was up 2.4 percent after JPMorgan
upgraded the stock to 'overweight' from 'neutral' and increased
its target price.
In the United States, data due to be released include the
Economic Cycle Research Institute's Weekly Leading Index, a
measure of future U.S. growth, due at 1530 GMT.
(Editing by Dan Lalor)
