* FTSE pares early gains
* Miners up but geopolitical, inflation worries linger
* Banks lower, HSBC falls after broker downgrades
LONDON, March 1 (Reuters) - Strength in miners kept
Britain's top share index in positive territory at midday on
Tuesday after supportive data overnight from China.
Lingering geopolitcal concerns and inflation worries saw
many stocks pare early gains with banks and retailers among the
top fallers.
At 1149 GMT, the FTSE 100 <> was 2.18 points
higher at 5,996.19. The index fell 1.3 percent last week as
tensions in the Middle East and North Africa saw oil prices
soar, threatening global economic recovery.
"There remains uncertainty which is preventing this market
from pushing on," Jimmy Yates, head of equities at CMC Markets,
said.
"Fund managers are shuffling their portfolios out of riskier
assets for the time being and, given the weighting of the FTSE
towards commodity-driven assets and banks, that is stunting
progress."
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Miners <.FTNMX1770>, which have fallen early in 2011 on
worries over inflation in emerging markets and dented by
political tensions in the Middle East, bobbed higher.
Chinese manufacturing data showed growth slowed in February,
helping dampen fears about China's economy overheating and the
need for further monetary tightening in the world's major
commodity consumer.
"The China data provides some support for miners, though
overall the picture remains mixed," Mic Mills, head of
electronic dealing at ETX Capital, said.
Energy <.FTNMX0530> stocks were mixed. Crude prices <LCOc1>
held above $112 per barrel, although off multi-year highs, on
supply worries as unrest continued in Libya and the Middle East.
Traders said the session's slightly more bullish tone among
investors was underpinned by comments from Warren Buffett,
chairman of investment firm Berkshire Hathaway <BRKa.N>, which
suggested stocks may be cheap. []
HSBC WOES
Banks were weaker with heavyweight HSBC <HSBA.L> down 2.4
percent as both Deutsche Bank and UBS downgraded ratings for the
global lender following Monday's results disappointment.
Home improvement retailer Kingfisher <KGF.L> was the top
FTSE 100 faller, down 4.6 percent as Societe Generale cut its
rating to "sell", saying in a note: "It is time to worry about
B&Q in the UK as it begins to face more severe consumer
headwinds".
Clothing retailers Marks & Spencer <MKS.L> and Next <NXT.L>
fell 2.3 percent and 1.7 percent respectively, hit again by
Monday's cautious trading news from high street Primark, owned
by AB Foods <ABF.L>.
AB foods, however, rallied 3.8 percent as Evolution upgraded
its rating on the Primark owner to "buy" from "neutral".
British outsourcing group Capita <CPI.L> was the top riser,
up 4.8 percent after saying it was in talks with Zurich
Financial Services <ZURN.VX> about an extension of the term of
Capita's existing contract, dragging peer Serco <SRP.L>, up 2.4
percent, with it.
Wolseley <WOS.L>, the world's largest plumbers and builders
merchant, added 2.2 percent after Irish building materials group
CRH <CRH.I> reported stabilisation in the past three months.
There were upbeat signs on the local economy. In February,
house prices in Britain rose, while manufacturing growth held at
a record level. [] []
U.S. stock index futures pointed to a higher open on Wall
Street on Tuesday ahead of the testimony by Federal Reserve
Chairman Ben Bernanke, starting at 1500 GMT.
Britain's United Business Media <UBM.L> fell 10.5 percent
after results, which prompted Numis to cut its earnings
forecasts and target price.
(Editing by Dan Lalor)
