FTSE closes 0.6 pct lower; banks, miners fall

* FTSE mirrors falls on Wall Street after U.S. GDP data

* Banks, commodity stocks fall

* Defensive beverage, utility firms gain ground

By Harpreet Bhal

LONDON, Nov 24 (Reuters) - Britain's leading share index ended 0.6 percent lower on Tuesday, with sentiment dampened by data showing the United States economy grew at a slower pace than previously thought, pressuring banks and commodity stocks.

The FTSE index .FTSE ended 31.54 points lower at 5,323.96, reversing earlier gains, to mirror falls on Wall Street after third quarter U.S. economic growth was revised down to 2.8 percent from 3.5 percent. [ID:nN23258482].

Banks were the biggest drag on the index, with heavyweight HSBC (HSBA.L: Quote, Profile, Research), part-nationalised Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS.L: Quote, Profile, Research), Standard Chartered (STAN.L: Quote, Profile, Research) and Barclays (BARC.L: Quote, Profile, Research) shedding 0.2 to 4 percent as investors shied away from risky positions.

"There has been some selling in financials after the GDP figures ... and people have been going into safe-haven stocks like utilities," said Sam Wright, equity trader at Spreadex.