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London - Britain's leading share index was lower by mid-session on Friday, hit by weaker commodity issues, with investors cautious ahead of December's US jobs report after data in the previous session dented recovery hopes.
At 1151 GMT, the FTSE 100 index was 18.55 points lower, or down 0.3%, at 6 000.96, above session lows having dipped below 6 000.
US stocks futures were lower awaiting the jobs report, with disappointing retail data and jobless claims on Thursday hitting recent confidence in recovery hopes.
"Yesterday was a bit of a turning point after a good start to the year," said David Morrison, market analyst at GFT Global. "It's been a good excuse to take metals prices lower and now we are sitting back to see what happens next."
Miners were the worst blue-chip performers, led by Fresnillo and African Barrick Gold, down 3.3% and 2.2% respectively, with metal prices pushed down by a firmer dollar and talk of tighter monetary policy in leading consumer China.
Energy issues were lower as a sector. BG Group bucked the trend, up 0.9%, supported by a Deutsche Bank upgrade to "buy" from "hold" in a sector review.
Tobacco issues were heavy fallers, with Imperial Tobacco and British American Tobacco [JSE:BTI] losing 2.2% and 1.7% respectively as Citigroup cut ratings for both firms to "hold" from "buy", in a sector review.
Retailers rally
Retailers bounced back from falls this week that were prompted by a batch of trading updates showing declines in sales due to severe weather in the run-up to Christmas.
Next, which issued its statement on Wednesday, gained 1.3%, helped by an RBS upgrade to "buy", while Marks & Spencer, which will post its update next Tuesday, added 0.3%.
"M&S, the best proxy for the strength of middle-class consumer spending on food and clothing ... looks undervalued on only 10 times the new year (estimates)," said Nick Bubb, retail analyst at Arden Partners.
Luxury goods firm Burberry also rallied after a retail-related sell-off, ahead 0.7% with support from an HSBC price target increase in a bullish sector review.
Auto parts firm GKN was the top blue-chip gainer, up 1.4%, as UBS raised its target to 220 pence from 180 in a sector review.
Chip designer ARM Holding was the heaviest FTSE 100 faller, down 4.8%, as investors took profits following the 14% advance by the stock since the start of 2011 driven by confirmation of its tie-up with Microsoft.
JP Morgan repeated its "underweight" stance on ARM, arguing the stock is overvalued.
UK blue-chips are up 1.7% after the first shortened trading week of 2011, having gained 6.7% in December.
