Britain's top shares climbed higher by midday on Friday, with gains in miners and banks outpacing falls in defensive stocks and BP, though the index's recent rally showed signs of running out of steam, according to Reuters. By 1105 GMT, the FTSE 100 index was up 13.91 points, or 0.3 percent, at 5,119.36, having closed higher for a third consecutive day on Thursday, up 1.8 percent. However, by midday, the index had traded just over 20 percent of its 90-day average volume as investors chose to sit on the sidelines ahead of the second-quarter reporting season from the U.S., which kicks off next week with Alcoa. "Next week should be a interesting week for the market," said Jimmy Yates, head of equities at CMC Markets. "When those earnings start coming in we'll get a clearer sense of direction and whether clients feel that we can push on from here." Miners provided much of the upside on the FTSE 100, tracking firmer base metal prices. The demand outlook for raw materials improved after Thursday's data showed a fall in new weekly U.S. claims for unemployment benefits, offering cautious hope for the economic recovery that had been showing signs of fatigue. Antofagasta was the top performer, up 3.3 percent, helped by a Citigroup upgrade to "buy" from "hold". However, gold miner Randgold Resources and mid-cap peer Hochschild Mining bucked the sector trend, falling 1.0 and 3.6 percent, both hit by downgrades from Goldman Sachs. After dipping back on Monday, the FTSE 100 index has powered ahead in the other three sessions this week, putting on nearly 270 points, or 5.5 percent, since Friday's close. However, the blue-chip index is still recovering from an almost 10 percent fall between June 21 and July 1, when signs of slowing global growth dented sentiment. BANKS EBB AND FLOW In choppy trade, Banks were big gainers on the FTSE 100, adding to solid gains already made over the past three days as investors focused on recent upbeat news on the sector. Part-nationalised lender Lloyds Banking Group was 1.5 percent higher, continuing to respond well to Thursday reports that two senior banking figures have joined forces to back a new bid vehicle which will list on the London stock market and look to purchase British banking assets. Peers HSBC and Standard Chartered rose 0.8 and 0.7 percent respectively. Other financials also featured on the upside, with Legal and General up 3.2 percent and Prudential 3.0 percent higher. Stocks seen as defensive were among the blue-chip fallers as investors' risk appetite partly remained, with pharma issues the worst off, led by GlaxoSmithKline down 1.4 percent. National Grid was the biggest FTSE 100 decliner, down 1.9 percent, hit further by Thursday's downgrade by Citigroup. BP was a heavy weight on the index, down 0.8 percent as traders booked profits following a 21 percent rise since June 29. The stock, however, remains down over 44 percent since its major oil spill began in the Gulf of Mexico in late April. British factory gate inflation slowed more than expected to a three-month low in June but Britain's trade gap for goods and services unexpectedly hit its widest since July 2008, official data showed on Friday. Helping temper gains in London, U.S. stock index futures pointed to a mixed open on Wall Street ahead of May U.S. wholesale inventories, which will be the only data of interest released on Friday.
