* FTSE 100 edges up 0.3 pct
* BHP Billiton results lift mining stocks
* Retail, leisure and housebuilders ease
By Dominic Lau
LONDON, Aug 18 (Reuters) - Britain's FTSE 100 <> edged
up by midday on Monday as rising commodity prices amid a weaker
U.S. dollar lifted heavyweight miners and energy stocks, though
firmer oil prices weighed on retail and leisure sectors.
By 1048 GMT, the UK benchmark was up 16.1 points, or 0.3
percent, at 5,470.3, after losing 0.6 percent last week. The
index has lost 15 percent so far this year.
"It's a bit of a lacklustre session ... a bit of strength
coming through in the mining stocks on the back of strong
numbers from BHP Billiton and reasonably confident outlook of
where they see commodity prices in the longer term," said Henk
Potts, equity strategist at Barclays Stockbrokers.
"It's another difficult day for consumer stocks, with media
having a bad day ... and retail having a difficult time as well
as predictions continue to increase that we are looking at a
significant economic slowdown and increase in unemployment."
Miners were the top gainers as metal prices gained and after
BHP Billiton <BLT.L> posted a 12.4 percent rise in full-year net
profit to a record $15.4 billion as Chinese demand stoked a
commodities boom. BHP was up 1.4 percent.
Peers Rio Tinto <RIO.L>, Anglo American <AAL.L>, Kazakhmys
<KAZ.L>, Vedanta Resources <VED.L> and Antofagasta <ANTO.L> were
up 1.2 to 2.5 percent.
Energy stocks were also up as crude prices <CLc1> traded
above $114 a barrel. BP <BP.L>, Royal Dutch Shell <RDSa.L> and
Tullow Oil <TLW.L> advanced 0.6 to 3.2 percent.
The rising energy costs, however, dragged British Airways
<BAY.L> and cruise operator Carnival <CCL.L> into the red.
The dollar retreated from a six-month high against the euro
as an overnight recovery in oil and commodity prices prompted a
pause in the U.S. currency's dramatic recovery this month.
Retailers and housebuilders were also down, with Marks &
Spencer <MKS.L>, Next <NXT.L>, Kingfisher <KGF.L>, Wolseley
<WOS.L> and Persimmon <PSN.L> losing 1.4 to 4.3 percent.
The housebuilding sector was also hit after property website
Rightmove said UK house prices fell 4.8 percent year-on-year in
August, the fastest fall since the series began six years ago.
The Daily Telegraph also quoted estate agency Savills as
saying residential building land, one of the core assets of most
housebuilders, plummeted in value by 20 percent in the first six
months of the year and could fall by up to 50 percent before the
current slump was over.
Banks were mixed, with Barclays <BARC.L>, Royal Bank of
Scotland <RBS.L> and Lloyds TSB <LLOY.L> down. But HSBC
<HSBA.L>, Standard Chartered <STAN.L> and HBOS <HBOS.L> were up.
Lehman Brothers said in a note that it remained negative
towards the UK banks and it was most cautious on HBOS and Royal
Bank of Scotland.
"The pace of non-performing loan formation and impairment
charges is likely to increase as the economic slowdown deepens
with corporate lending likely to be the principal cause," the
broker said.
"We believe asset quality will be the key sector driver and
differentiator of individual stock price performance," it said,
adding it was positive on StanChart and HSBC because of their
exposure to the relatively fast growing Asian economy.
Among the mid-caps, Michael Page <MPI.L>, the British
staffing group that has rejected a 1.3 billion pound ($2.43
billion) bid approach from Swiss rival Adecco <ADEN.VX>, soared
nearly 12 percent after it reported a 22 percent increase in
first-half pretax profit despite weakening trading conditions in
some markets.
(Additional reporting by Michael Taylor; editing by Karen
Foster)
