FTSE dips as BT, Unilever offset drugmakers

* FTSE 100 dips 0.2 pct

* Unilever leads food producers lower

* BT Group falls on disappointing results * AstraZeneca lifts earnings forecasts, stock up

By Dominic Lau

LONDON, July 31 (Reuters) - Britain's leading share index dipped on Thursday as disappointing results from telecom group BT (BT.L) and food producer Unilever (ULVR.L) led their respective sectors lower, though drugmakers offered support.

AstraZeneca (AZN.L) advanced 3.3 percent after the drugmaker lifted its full-year earnings forecast as second-quarter results came in ahead of expectations. [ID:nL1518079]

Peer Shire (SHP.L) climbed 3.7 percent after it posted second-quarter results that topped analysts' expectations on sales of its older attention deficit disorder drug Adderall XR, and raised its sales forecast for the full year.

The FTSE 100 ended down 8.8 points, or 0.2 percent, at 5,411.9, after surging 1.9 percent on Wednesday.

On the downside, the telecommunications sector was one of the biggest losers after BT Group (BT.L) posted a lower-than-expected rise in its first-quarter underlying core earnings, resulting in a slump of 12 percent in its shares.

Sentiment was also hurt after mobile phone retailer and telecoms group Carphone Warehouse (CPW.L) cut its forecast for new broadband customers this year and said it remained cautious about the outlook for consumer spending. The stock was down nearly 2 percent.

Unilever (ULVR.L) sank 8.1 percent as traders reacted with disappointment to its second-quarter underlying sales.

Within the food producing sector, Associated British Foods (ABF.L) shed 1.4 percent and Cadbury CBRY.L lost 3.4 percent. "The share price reaction is indicative of the way the market is at the moment, and that's very unforgiving on statements that are less than optimistic even though both companies (BT and Unilever) results are broadly in line with expectations," said Tim Whitehead, head of portfolio services at Redmayne-Bentley.

Data showed British house prices fell at record rates and consumer confidence hit historic lows, fuelling fears that a consumer-led slowdown could tip the economy into recession. [ID:nL1418840]

Across the Atlantic, the U.S. economy accelerated modestly in the second quarter as government stimulus payments helped consumers. But the weekly jobless claims showed a sharp jump. [ID:nN31399964]

HBOS RISES, SHELL FALLS

HBOS HBOS.L, Britain's biggest home lender, said it was considering asset sales after first-half profit halved due to a 1.1 billion pound ($2.2 billion) hit on debt securities hurt by the credit crunch. [ID:nL1410731]

But its shares jumped more than 7 percent as analysts detected no nasty shocks in the results, and said profit beat expectations, costs appeared under control and the shares had already been hit hard.

The rest of the banking sector, however, was mixed. Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS.L) and Barclays (BARC.L) were up, but HSBC (HSBA.L), Lloyds TSB (LLOY.L) and Standard Chartered (STAN.L) headed in the opposite direction.

Royal Dutch Shell (RDSa.L) fell 2.1 percent despite reporting a 5 percent rise in second-quarter current cost of supply net income to $7.9 billion, and saying it beat analysts' forecasts.

However, BP (BP.L), gas producer BG Group (BG.L) and Cairn Energy (CNE.L) strengthened 2.1 to 4 percent.

London-listed Chilean miner Antofagasta (ANTO.L) said it produced 233,600 tonnes of copper in the first half, 10.2 percent more than the same period last year. Its shares were up 4.5 percent.

Anglo American (AAL.L) also put on 0.4 percent after posting a 14 percent rise in first-half underlying profit on higher output and forecasting a strong second half, while BHP Billiton (BLT.L) and Eurasian Natural Resources (ENRC.L) were also firm.

SABMiller (SAB.L) dropped 4.9 percent after the brewer reported a below-forecast 1.6 percent fall in first-quarter underlying beer volumes and warned of challenging trading in South Africa. (Additional reporting by Atul Prakash and Michael Taylor; Editing by Erica Billingham)