FTSE up early as miners, oils track commodities (at Reuters)

FTSE rises 0.5 pct * Miners, oils track firmer commodity prices * Barclays up after better-than-expected results By Atul Prakash LONDON, Aug 7 (Reuters) - Britain's blue-chip index rose 0.5 percent early on Thursday ahead of the Bank of England's rate verdict, as positive mining and oil stocks and a rise in banks outpaced weaker insurers. By 0827 GMT, the commodity-heavy FTSE 100 .FTSE was up 24.5 points at 5,510.6, after gaining 0.6 percent in the previous session. But the UK benchmark index has lost nearly 15 percent this year after five consecutive years of gains. Oils and energy stocks were the top sectoral gainers as they followed crude prices, which rose after dipping to three-month lows, as the market's focus returned to supply concerns in Turkey, Nigeria... [read full story]