Defensives pull FTSE down 0.4 pct at end of Q2
* Defensives weak at end of second quarter
* Insurers retrace previous session gains
* UK final Q1 GDP awaited
By Jon Hopkins
LONDON, June 30 (Reuters) - Britain's leading share index shed 0.4 percent in early trade on Tuesday reflecting position-squaring at the end of the second quarter and caution ahead of final UK GDP data, with defensives leading the fallers.
By 0805 GMT, the FTSE 100 .FTSE index was 16.93 points lower at 4,277.10 after gaining 1.3 percent in the previous session.
The blue chip index is up 9.4 percent so far on the quarter and on track for its best such performance since the final quarter of 2003. The index has gained 22.5 percent since touching a six-year low on March 9.
"We are struggling a little bit (today) but to be honest we have had all from the market that we could possibly have expected ... considering that we are still someway away from 'proper recovery', and all we are doing is just flattening out, said David Buik, senior partner at BGC Partners.
Life insurers were the weakest blue chip sector, retracing some strong gains made on Monday, with Prudential (PRU.L), Standard Life (SL.L), Old Mutual OLM.L and Friends Provident (FP.L) down 1.5 to 2.8 percent.
Defensive issues also featured among the biggest blue chip fallers, notably food producers and tobaccos as investors positioned themselves for the new quarter.
Cadbury (CBRY.L) shed 2.1 percent and Unilever (ULVR.L) fell 2.3 percent, while British American Tobacco (BATS.L) and Imperial Tobacco (IMT.L) respectively lost 1.1 and 0.7 percent.
Utilities were also unsettled by negative broker comment.
United Utilities (UU.L) fell 2.9 percent as JP Morgan cut its rating to "neutral" from "overweight" in a sector review.
The broker also cut its target price for Severn Trent (SVT.L), down 2.06 percent.
Heavyweight commodity issues were mixed, with strength in crude CLc1 and metal prices aiding BP (BP.L), Tullow Oil (TLW.L), BHP Billiton (BLT.L) and Eurasian Natural Resources (ENRC.L) up between 0.5 to 0.7 percent. Continued...
