FTSE flat; energy gains offset banks retreat

* Energy stocks gain, shrug off oil price slide

* Miners weaker, tracking weaker metals * Banks weaker but insurers up on Friends Prov M&A talk

By David Brett

LONDON, July 13 (Reuters) - London's leading share index in mid-session on Modnay was flat in light volume as gains in defensives and energy stocks, which shrugged off weaker oil prices, were offset by falls in banks and miners.

By 1007 GMT, the FTSE 100 .FTSE was 1.77 points lower at 4,125.40 after it lost 31.49 points to close at 4,127.17 on Friday, its lowest close since April 28.

The blue-chip index has fallen 6.7 percent this year but is up 19.3 percent since touching a six-year low in March.

BP (BP.L), Royal Dutch Shell (RDSa.L) and Tullow Oil (TLW.L) all gained between 0.6 percent and 1 percent, but BG Group (BG.L) was already showing signs of softening, down 0.1 percent.

"Oil majors are rising after taking a bit of a hammering recently as oil came back to $60 per barrel. It's a short term bounce. If oil pushes lower again, then expect the big names to continue to fall," says Jimmy Yates, Head of Equities at CMC Markets.

The price of crude languished at a seven-week low CLc1 below $60 per barrel.

Insurers got a boost on a bout of takeover activity after Resolution RS.L said the board of Friends Provident FP.L had rebuffed its merger proposal. [ID:nLD542208]

Friends Provident FP.L gained 6.7 percent, topping the blue-chip leaderboard, followed by Aviva (AV.L), which added 2.5 percent, while Standard Life, (SL.L) and Old Mutual (OML.L) gained 1.3 and 1.5 percent, respectively.

Defensive tobacco stocks and pharmaceuticals were in slightly positive territory as investors looked to company assets, which they consider to be resilient to economic turmoil.

GlaxoSmithKline (GSK.L) added 1.2 percent, Shire (SHP.L) rose 0.3 percent and British American Tobacco (BATS.L) added 0.7 percent.

Heavyweight mobile operator Vodafone (VOD.L), added support, gaining 0.9 percent.

MINERS, BANKS RETREAT

Miners were on the back foot as metal prices continued to soften as confidence on the demand outlook for raw materials crumbled.

Fresnillo (FRES.L), Lonmin (LMI.L), Rio Tinto (RIO.L), Kazakhmys (KAZ.L) and Vedanta fell between 2.7 and 6.5 percent.

Xstrata (XTA.L) dropped 5.7 percent, after it said on Sunday that it remained committed to a nil-premium merger with Anglo American (AAL.L), down 2.3 percent, after the Observer newspaper said Xstrata would offer a 5 billion pounds ($8.05 billion) sweetener to seal the deal. [ID:nLC011937]

Banks, whose performance is closely correlated to risk appetite, fell.

Barclays (BARC.L), HSBC (HSBA.L), Standard Chartered (STAN.L) and Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY.L) lost between 0.6 and 2.4 percent.

Britain needs patience in selling stakes of RBS and Lloyds Banking Group, said UK Financial Investments, the body managing the holdings. [ID:nLD583826]

"We have been stuck in a relatively tight range as there's a sense that the recovery might not be as soon or as strong as had been hoped," said Richard Hunter, head of equities at Hargreaves Lansdown.

Britain's largest gas retailer, Centrica (CNA.L) shed 1.5 percent after it suffered a setback in its battle to take over Venture Production, VPC.L with the North Sea gas producer's two largest investors backing management's rejection of Centrica's $2 billion bid. [ID:nLD39003]

Associated British Foods was one of the bigger fallers, down 2.2 percent after RBS cut it to "sell" from "hold". ($1=.6211 pounds) (Reporting by David Brett; editing by Karen Foster)