* Bank decline led by Barclays
* Energy stocks drag
* Miners rise on hopes of improved demand
By Tricia Wright
LONDON, Oct 20 (Reuters) - Britain's top share index fell on Tuesday, retreating after strong gains the previous session, with banks the biggest laggards, led lower by Barclays after Qatar sold stock in the bank.
At 0818 GMT, the FTSE 100 was down 27.37 points, or 0.5 percent, at 5,255.17, after ending 1.8 percent higher on Monday at 5,281.54, a new peak for 2009 on the 22nd anniversary of the "Black Monday" stock market crash of 1987.
"There's no good news out there and there's just nothing to hang your hat on this morning," said Howard Wheeldon, strategist at BGC Partners.
Banks were on the back foot, led lower by Barclays, which slid 4.5 percent on news Qatar is selling 379.2 million shares in the bank, worth over 1.3 billion pounds ($2.1 billion).
Heavyweight HSBC dropped 0.8 percent, while Royal Bank of Scotland, weighed down by cash call uncertainties, fell 2.3 percent, although Lloyds Banking Group, also plagued by cash call concerns, was flat.
Sainsbury, which gained as much as 20 percent on Thursday on talk Qatar's sovereign wealth fund was planning a renewed offer for the British grocer, was a top FTSE 100 riser in the wake of the Barclays news, which revived the speculation.
"After the bid speculation (for Sainsbury) last week, people are looking at the Barclays move and putting two and two together," says a trader based in Monaco.
Energy stocks were under pressure, with crude off 0.5 percent.
BP, Royal Dutch Shell and Tullow Oil shed 0.2 to 0.9 percent.
Autonomy Corp fell 7.5 percent after the search software company reported Q3 results.
Gross margin fell to 86 percent in the third quarter from 92 percent a year earlier, due to costs associated with its new product launch.
MINERS IN DEMAND
Miners were in favour, extending Monday's gains, amid optimism over improved demand as corporate earnings recover.
Rio Tinto, Kazakhmys, Anglo American and Lonmin rose 0.8 to 1.6 percent.
Xstrata notched up good gains, adding 1.2 percent as the global miner said its financial performance was strong in the third quarter as it posted a 9 percent rise in third-quarter production of coal, its most profitable product, while copper output fell 10 percent.
Fresh earnings optimism was realised after the Wall Street close by Apple and Texas Instruments, with results from both beating market expectations.
Investors eyed another big batch of U.S. corporate earnings for some fresh direction on Tuesday, with the likes of Pfizer, Coca-Cola Co., State Street, Caterpillar, Du Pont, Yahoo and Lockheed Martin all scheduled to deliver numbers.
Pearson climbed 1.2 percent after the publishing group raised its full-year guidance, saying it now expects adjusted earnings to be at or above 60 pence per share following a strong performance from its education business.
The domestic macro focus will be on the British government's borrowing levels on Tuesday, with a public sector net credit requirement of 18.7 billion pounds expected.
More attention, however, will be directed towards U.S. data, with September producer prices and September U.S. housing starts due for release. (Editing by Jon Loades-Carter)