Britain's FTSE falls for fifth straight session

LONDON, March 21 (Reuters) - Britain's benchmark share index fell for the fifth consecutive session on Thursday, with worries over Cyprus' bailout problems denting sentiment while a cautious update from Next hit the retailer's shares.

The blue-chip FTSE 100 was down 0.1 percent, or 5.43 points lower, at 6,427.27 points by 0805 GMT.

The index was close to falling below its 20-day simple moving average level of around 6,420 points, which could be taken by technical traders as a sign of further declines to come.

(Reporting by Sudip Kar-Gupta)