* FTSE 100 slips back below 5,000 mark
* Oils and miners under pressure
* BoE keeps rates on hold, QE maintained
By Harpreet Bhal
LONDON, Sept 10 (Reuters) - Britain's top share index
slipped back in midday trade on Thursday, reversing early gains
and dipping below the 5,000 mark as the market digested the Bank
of England's decision to keep rates on hold at a record low.
By 1144 GMT the FTSE 100 <> index was down 28.29
points, or 0.6 percent at 4,976.01. It closed above the 5,000
level for the first time since late September 2008 on Wednesday.
The Bank of England left interest rates at 0.5 percent for
the sixth month running and said it would keep its 175 billion
pound asset buying programme in place. []
Oil majors were generally lower after sharp gains in the
previous session. BP <BP.L>, Royal Dutch Shell <RDSa.L> and
Tullow Oil <TLW.L> shed 0.5 to 1.6 percent, though BG Group
<BG.L> rose 0.2 percent.
"You can't go up in a straight line forever so a pullback
(on the FTSE) seems inevitable. The question now is, is this
going to be a consolidation and a healthy pullback or is it
going to be deeper," said David Morrison, market strategist at
GFT Global.
The index has risen close to 44 percent since the lows of
March but has struggled to breach levels hit prior to the
collapse of Lehman Brothers, trading 8 percent below the event
which caused chaos in the global financial system.
"The big level of a retracement from the old high to the low
in March is around 5,100. That would have been technically
significant. 5,000 is just psychological," Morrison said.
Mining stocks were lower, extending losses from the previous
session, while gold <XAU=> slipped below $1,000 an ounce. Lonmin
<LMI.L>, Xstrata <XTA.L>, Anglo American <AAL.L>, Rio Tinto
<RIO.L>, BHP Billiton <BLT.L> and Fresnillo <FRES.L> fell 1.5 to
2 percent.
Food and general retailers were lower, with traders pointing
to profit taking after the sectors' recent gains. The FTSE All
Share General Retailers Index <.FTASX5370> is up 6.1 percent so
far this month, rebounding from a 0.2 percent drop in August.
Home Retail <HOME.L> fell 6.8 percent. It reported
better-than-expected second-quarter sales at both its Argos and
Homebase businesses. Kingfisher <KGF.L>, Marks & Spencer <MKS.L>
and Next <NXT.L> dropped 3 to 4.1 percent. []
Wm Morrison Supermarkets <MRW.L> shed 2.1 percent as the
food retailer said it sees slower market growth in the second
half with first-half profits up 22 percent. []
J Sainsbury <SBRY.L> and Tesco <TSCO.L> shed 2.4 and 1
percent, respectively.
THOMAS COOK CLIMBS
On the upside, Thomas Cook Group <TCG.L> was in demand,
adding 4 percent as Arcandor's <AROG.DE> creditor banks
confirmed the placement of the German group's 43.9 percent stake
in the tour operator. []
The share placing was being done in an indicated range of
around 240-245 pence per share, traders said.
Fellow tour operator TUI Travel <TT.L> rose 4.1 percent with
Collins Stewart upping ratings for both to "hold" from "sell".
Defensive stocks moved higher as risk averse investors sort
sanctuary in stocks which have lagged the main index rise.
Utilities Centrica <CNA.L>, National Grid <NG.L>, Penon
Group <PNN.N> and United Utilities <UU.L> were up 0.2 to 2.1
percent
Centrica was helped by an upgrade to "buy" from Citigroup.
Drugmakers AstraZeneca <AZN.L> and Shire <SHP.L> gained 0.4
and 2.4 percent respectively.
On the economic front, house prices in Britain rose 0.8
percent in August, leaving prices down 10.1 percent in the three
months to August versus a year ago, mortgage lender Halifax
said. []
British construction orders rose 2 percent in the three
months to July against the previous three months, and were down
10 percent compared to a year ago, data showed. []
July U.S. international trade numbers and the weekly U.S.
jobless claims will be a focus at 1230 GMT.
(Editing by Jon Loades-Carter)
