Banks, defensives push FTSE to close higher

* FTSE end up 0.1 percent; banks higher

* Miners fall as metal prices weaken

* Oil majors slip as crude trades around $66/barrel

* U.S. markets closed for Independence Day holiday

By David Brett

LONDON, July 3 (Reuters) - Britain's leading equity index
closed marginally higher on Friday as positive financial and
defensive stocks outpaced weaker commodity shares, which tracked
a decline in crude and metals prices.

The FTSE 100 index .FTSE rose 2.01 points, or 0.1 percent,
to 4,236.28 points in thin trading, with U.S. markets closed for
the Independence Day holiday.

"Volumes are light. There's nothing going on. Everyone's
watching Andy Murray in the tennis," said Jimmy Yates, head of
equities at CMC Markets, referring to Murray's semi-final match
against American Andy Roddick at Wimbledon late on Friday.

London's blue chip index finished the week lower for a third
straight week, a pattern not seen since the lows of March. The
index has jumped 22.4 percent since then.

Banks gained, rebounding after falls on Thursday.

Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS.L: Quote, Profile, Research) added 0.9 percent, while
Barclays (BARC.L: Quote, Profile, Research), HSBC (HSBA.L: Quote, Profile, Research) and Lloyds Banking Group
(LLOY.L: Quote, Profile, Research) rose 0.9-2.8 percent.

"There's a bit of bottom fishing going on out there,
especially with the market's inability to break the 4,200
support level," said Yates.

Defensive stocks also found support as investors' risk
appetite faded following the U.S. jobs disappointment, with
tobacco and drug shares moving higher.

AstraZeneca (AZN.L: Quote, Profile, Research) and Shire (SHP.L: Quote, Profile, Research) rose 0.2-0.9 percent,
while Imperial Tobacco (IMT.L: Quote, Profile, Research) and British American Tobacco
(BATS.L: Quote, Profile, Research) added 1 and 1.5 percent respectively.

British Airways (BAY.L: Quote, Profile, Research) added 5.5 percent as the company
said it had responded by taking cost cutting measures. It
announced a fall in June passenger traffic numbers.
[ID:nL3518667]

There was little reaction to data showing Britain's dominant
services sector expanded for a second month in June but the pace
of recovery slowed as new business contracted and firms stepped
up the pace of job cuts. [ID:nL3535155]

MEDIA UPGRADE

Media stocks were higher, led by Reed Elsevier (REL.L: Quote, Profile, Research), up
3.9 percent, after Credit Suisse raised its rating on the
European media sector to "overweight" from "underweight," and
said the sector has significantly underperformed the market and
valuations are now at record lows. [ID:nBNG487801]

BSkyB (BSY.L: Quote, Profile, Research) was 2.1 percent higher, while WPP (WPP.L: Quote, Profile, Research) was
up 1 percent.

Oil majors fell as crude CLc1 remained depressed after
Thursday's jobless figures from U.S. and Europe clouded the
economic outlook. [ID:nL3368671]

BP (BP.L: Quote, Profile, Research), Royal Dutch Shell (RDSa.L: Quote, Profile, Research), BG Group (BG.L: Quote, Profile, Research),
Cairn Energy (CNE.L: Quote, Profile, Research) and Tullow Oil (TLW.L: Quote, Profile, Research) lost 0.3-1.9
percent.

Miners retracted as traders continued to take profits
following a surge in prices earlier in the week on the back of
prospective corporate activity, and a fall in raw material
prices.

Anglo American (AAL.L: Quote, Profile, Research), BHP Billiton (BLT.L: Quote, Profile, Research), Xstrata
(XTA.L: Quote, Profile, Research), Vedanta Resources (VED.L: Quote, Profile, Research) and Rio Tinto (RIO.L: Quote, Profile, Research) lost
0.5-1.4 percent.

Underwriters to Rio Tinto's rights issue sold the Australian
"rump" at A$48.50 each, a 6.3 percent discount to Rio's last
traded price, Rio said in a statement on Friday.

Vodafone (VOD.L: Quote, Profile, Research) saw some selling, down 1.6 percent.
(Editing by David Cowell)