FTSE rises as Citi adds steam to banks rally

* FTSE turns positive, up 0.7 percent by mid-session

* Citigroup results help banks rally further

* Miners, oil stocks cap gains

By Rebekah Curtis

LONDON, July 18 (Reuters) - British blue-chip stocks were hight at midday on Friday, reversing early losses as better than expected results from U.S. bank Citigroup added steam to a rally in banks and offset weakness in commodity stocks.

By 1115 GMT the FTSE 100 .FTSE was up 36.5 points, or 0.7 percent, at 5,322.8 points. The index closed up 2.6 percent on Thursday, when a surge in battered banks was fuelled largely by better than expected results from JP Morgan (JPM.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz).

U.S. stock futures also reversed an earlier slide and rose after the results from Citigroup. The largest U.S. bank posted a smaller than expected $2.5 billion second-quarter loss, suffering writedowns and credit losses tied to deteriorating credit markets and the slumping economy.

The net loss was 54 cents per share and compared with a year-earlier profit of $1.24 per share, or $6.23 billion.