FTSE down 0.9 pct midday; HSBC leads banks lower

* HSBC falls after trading update

* Lonmin tumbles on rights issue; other miners fall

* AstraZeneca gains on trial results

By Brian Gorman

LONDON, May 11 (Reuters) - Britain's blue-chip index was 0.9 percent lower at midday on Monday, with HSBC (HSBA.L) leading banks down after a trading update, while softer commodity prices dragged energy and mining stocks lower.

At 1044 GMT, the FTSE 100 .FTSE was down 41.34 points at 4420.75 points. It rose 5.2 percent last week and hit a four-month closing high on Friday.

The UK benchmark is up more than 28 percent from the six-year low to which it sank on March 9, as investors have become more confident that the actions taken by governments and central banks worldwide to combat recession will succeed.

"A lot of clients are taking profits," said Joshua Raymond, strategist at City Index. "It's fairly quiet today on the economic front, there's not many forward-looking indicators coming out."

"As the morning has progressed, I've seen more movement into defensives," he added.

Banking giant HSBC (HSBA.L) was down 3.7 percent, though it said in a trading statement that it had made a "resilient" start to 2009. Traders said that positive news for HSBC was widely anticipated and investors were taking profits after strong gains from last week.

Barclays (BARC.L) fell 2.1 percent, but outperformed most other banks, having received additional offers for its iShares business that might trump last month's agreed bid from CVC Capital Partners.

Standard Chartered (STAN.L) and Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS.L) fell 5 and 4.6 percent respectively.

LONMIN WEIGHS ON MINERS

Among miners, Lonmin Plc (LMI.L), the world's third-biggest platinum producer, fell 12.4 percent after it unveiled a $457 million rights issue and reported a loss in the first half after metals prices fell. [ID:nL81008436]

Other miners to fall included Anglo American (AAL.L), Antofagasta (ANTO.L), BHP Billiton (BLT.L) and Rio Tinto (RIO.L), down between 1.8 and 3.5 percent, with metal prices down broadly.