Econ jitters hurt energy, financials, FTSE slips

* FTSE 100 down 0.2 percent, touches two-month low

* Energy stocks dented by sliding crude price * Financials softer as risk appetite retreats

By Simon Falush

LONDON, July 8 (Reuters) - Growing disquiet on the global economy weighed on commodity prices, denting energy stocks while financials also slipped, pulling Britain's top share index 0.2 percent lower on Wednesday morning. By 0818 GMT the FTSE 100 .FTSE was down 7.20 points at 4,179.80 after touching its lowest level since late April. It closed 7.91 points, or 0.2 percent lower on Tuesday at 4,187.0.

The index is down 5.8 percent this year but still 21 percent higher than a six-year trough set in March.

Growing unease about the health of the global economy dragged crude prices down for a sixth consecutive day CLc1, hurting energy stocks.

BP (BP.L), Royal Dutch Shell (RDSa.L), BG Group (BG.L), and Cairn Energy (CNE.L) fell 0.1-1.1 percent.

Tullow Oil (TLW.L) was the leading laggard among blue chips, down 4.1 percent after saying it expected first-half revenue to fall 23 percent on lower prices. [ID:nL8338920]

"We're having a bout of the summer doldrums. There's a perception that the green shoots may be withering," said Philip Lawlor, chief portfolio strategist at Nomura.

"We're having a pullback, and we will look to see what kind of guidance companies give over the next three weeks (when they report second-quarter results) to determine the size of it. However I'm very confident we are not going back to the lows we saw in March."

Some miners managed to shrug off weaker metal prices after a broadly positive note from Citigroup which raised Rio Tinto's (RIO.L) target price and raised Antofagasta (ANTO.L) to "hold" from "sell".

Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton (BLT.L) also benefited from a note from Investec which raised them to "buy" from "hold".

Rio Tinto gained 1.4 percent, Antofagasta added 0.2 percent, and BHP Billiton added 1.1 percent. Kazakhmys (KAZ.L), Eurasian Natural Resources (ENRC.L), Anglo American (AAL.L), Lonmin (LMI.L) fell between 0.3 and 0.8 percent.

Highlighting the headwinds buffeting the economy, the Halifax house price index showed prices fell 0.5 percent on the month in June to be 15 percent lower in the three months to June compared to a year ago.

Meanwhile, British consumer confidence rose in June as people became more optimistic about the future of the economy, a Nationwide survey showed.

The Nationwide consumer confidence index rose to 58 in June from an upwardly revised 54 in May, almost reaching the 59 reading a year earlier. The original reading for May was 53. [ID:nLAG003589]

And British annual shop price inflation eased to 0.7 percent in June from 1.3 percent in May -- its weakest since December, as food price inflation hit a 14-month low, British Retail Consortium data showed.[ID:nL7137276]

U.S. May consumer credit numbers should be a focus later in the session, and the U.S. second-quarter corporate earnings season kicks off as well on Wednesday, with Alcoa (AA.N) and Pepsi Bottling Group PDG.N among the first.

Leaders from the Group of Eight major industrial nations are expected to warn against complacency over economic recovery when they begin an annual summit in L'Aquila, Italy on Wednesday. [ID:nL8395794]

Ex-dividend factors took 0.31 point off the FTSE 100 index on Wednesday, with British Land (BLND.L) and Vedanta Resources (VED.L) both losing their payout attractions. (Reporting by Simon Falush; Editing by Dan Lalor)