Miners, banks pull FTSE up 0.6 pct; Vodafone down

* Miners in demand; metals prices firm

* Banks rally after analyst's comments lift U.S. banks

* Vodafone falls after UBS downgrade

* Investors eye Goldman Sachs quarterly numbers

By Tricia Wright

LONDON, July 14 (Reuters) - Britain's top share index rose
early on Tuesday on strength among miners as metals prices rose
and among banks as investors awaited quarterly numbers from
Goldman Sachs (GS.N).

By 0759 GMT, the FTSE 100 index .FTSE was up 26.02 points
or 0.6 percent at 4,228.15, after closing 1.8 percent higher on
Monday.

"It doesn't feel as if there's a great deal of appetite to
chase prices up, and after the good rise we had yesterday, I
think people are just sitting on their hands in front of the
Goldmans numbers," said Jim Wood-Smith, head of research at
Williams de Broe.

Miners added the most points to the FTSE 100 index, with the
sector buoyed as metals prices rallied.

Anglo American (AAL.L), Antofagasta (ANTO.L), BHP Billiton
(BLT.L), ENRC (ENRC.L) and Rio Tinto (RIO.L) added between
0.8-2.3 percent.

Banks advanced, helped by gains in the U.S. after
influential bank analyst Meredith Whitney, who had previously
been bearish, said in comments to CNBC television that bank
shares were in for at least a short-term gain of 15 percent.

Barclays (BARC.L), HSBC (HSBA.L), Lloyds Banking Group
(LLOY.L) and Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS.L) put on between 0.4
and 1.5 percent.

Strength was also seen among insurers. Legal & General
(LGEN.L), Old Mutual (OML.L) and Prudential (PRU.L) added 2.3-4
percent.

Energy stocks pushed higher, as crude CLc1 rose above $60
a barrel.

BP (BP.L) added 0.7 percent, BG Group (BG.L) firmed 0.5
percent, and Tullow Oil (TLW.L) climbed 2.4 percent.

Among other stocks, Unilever (ULVR.L) gained 0.9 percent as
JP Morgan lifted its rating on the consumer goods company to
"overweight" from "neutral".

VODAFONE WEIGHS

Vodafone (VOD.L) was the biggest single drag on the blue
chips, down 1.6 percent, after a downgrade from UBS to "neutral"
from "buy" and a cut in price target chilled appetite for the
telecoms giant.

UBS said in a note that economic pressures, market share
loss and currency effects have combined to put pressure on
earnings estimates at the telecoms operator, and that earnings
will decline 11 percent this year.

Economic data gave modest cause for optimism.

The British Retail Consortium said retail sales rose in June
as a heatwave drove consumers into shops to stock up on summer
clothes, picnic food and garden furniture. [ID:nLAG003596]

The BRC said like-for-like sales rose 1.4 percent last month
compared with a year ago, more than reversing a 0.8 percent drop
in May.

There was encouraging news from the beleaguered housing
market too. House prices in England and Wales fell at their
slowest annual pace in almost two years last month while
confidence in the price outlook turned positive for the first
time since May 2007, a survey showed on Tuesday.

The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors' house price
balance rose to -18.1 in the three months to June, its best
reading since September 2007, from -43.

Investors will look to inflation data for June to be
released at 0830 GMT for more insight on the state of the UK
economy.

The consumer price index is seen up 0.3 percent for the
month in June and 1.8 percent on the year, falling from rises of
0.6 and 2.2 percent respectively the previous month.

But the main focus will be on U.S. corporate performance
which will give more of a steer on the likely timing and
intensity of economic recovery. Alongside Goldman Sachs, Intel
(INTC.O) and Johnson & Johnson (JNJ.N) are also scheduled to
release quarterly results.

(Editing by John Stonestreet)