* FTSE 100 up 0.2 pct
* Gains in banks offsets weakness in miners and energy firms
* BA up after it agrees to merger terms with Spain's Iberia
By Simon Falush
LONDON, Nov 13 (Reuters) - Gains in HSBC <HSBA.L> and energy
stocks kept Britain's top share index in positive ground for a
third day on Friday, offsetting weaker defensives, while British
Airways <BAY.L> rose after agreeing a merger with Iberia.
By 1204 GMT the FTSE 100 <> was up 10.82 points at
5,287.32 points, a day after closing at a three-week high. It is
on track for its highest close since September 2008.
The index is up 2.7 percent this week and has rebounded 53
percent since hitting a six-year trough in March.
Analysts were confident that the gains were sustainable.
"We will hang on to the explosive gains in the last six
months given the speed and strength of the macro economic
recovery and corporate recovery, the low interest rate
environment and undemanding equity valuations," said Henk Potts,
strategist at Barclays Wealth.
Heavyweight bank HSBC, up 1.3 percent, was the stock that
added the most points to the index, with traders citing talk
that it may increase its dividend.
The stock is up 8.5 percent this week, with investors
cheered by strong results released on Tuesday.
Other banks were weaker. Barclays <BARC.L> fell 0.3 percent
while Lloyds Banking Group <LLOY.L> and Standard Chartered
<STAN.L> fell 0.2 and 0.4 percent, respectively.
BA HIGHER
British Airways climbed 1.6 percent, following its
announcement on Thursday of a preliminary agreement for a $7
billion merger with Spain's Iberia <IBLA.MC> to create the
world's third-largest airline by revenue. []
"Focus is now on whether the synergies and cost cuts... can
be sufficient to bring the strong growth that is needed to turn
both businesses around," said Richard Griffiths, senior trader
at Spreadex.
With no UK economic data due for release, investors'
attention will be drawn to data from across the Atlantic, such
as the September U.S. international trade figures at 1330 GMT
and the University of Michigan consumer sentiment data for
November at 1455 GMT.
Energy firms were mostly stronger, as crude prices edged up
above $77 a barrel <CLc1>. BG Group <BG.L>, Tullow Oil <TLW.L>
and BP <BP.L> added 0.7-1.8 and 0.2 percent, respectively, but
Royal Dutch Shell <RDSa.L> shed 0.7 percent.
Miners were also under pressure, retreating from gains
earlier in the week as investors booked profits.
Kazakhmys <KAZ.L>, Antofagasta <ANTO.L>, Eurasian Natural
Resources <ENRC.L> and Xstrata <XTA.L> were off between 1.5 and
2.1 percent.
Among individual stocks, the world's biggest drinks can
maker, Rexam <REX.L>, slipped 3.2 percent after the company said
results in the second half of the year had been in line with
expectations. []
(Additional reporting by Harpreet Bhal; editing by Simon
Jessop)
