FTSE up 0.4 pct at midday; oils and drugmakers up

* Rising commodity prices lift oils and miners

* Drugmakers higher on GlaxoSmithKline vaccine approval * G20 in focus as leaders to keep stimulus in place

By Harpreet Bhal

LONDON, Sept 25 (Reuters) - Britain's top shares were higher at midday on Friday, lifted by strength in energy stocks as a pledge by world leaders to keep economic support in place settled investor nerves and lifted commodity prices.

By 1048 GMT, the FTSE 100 <.FTSE> was 0.4 percent, or 21.8 points higher at 5,101.07, gaining traction after finishing below 5,100 for the first time in a week on Thursday.

Oil and gas firms were the biggest gainers, as crude prices regained ground above $66 a barrel after a 4 percent drop in the previous session. BG Group , BP , Cairn Energy , Royal Dutch Shell rose 0.4-1.6 percent.

Leaders of the Group of 20 major industrialised and developing countries pledged to keep emergency economic supports running until a durable recovery was secured, and work together when the time comes to remove them. [ID:nN25480100]

This helped remove anxiety that a removal of government stimulus would snuff out the nascent recovery which has helped lift the FTSE 100 48 percent since a six-year trough in March.

"There is a pledge to keep the stimulus in place until we really see signs of recovery. That does help the market as all markets have been slightly rattled of late by the noises that the U.S. Fed have been making," said David Morrison, market strategist at GFT Global.

Weakness in the dollar is helping drive risk appetite for equities, while investors also look to a positive open on Wall Street for direction, he said.

"To see the market above the 5,100 level is broadly bullish but we need to see it close above that for traders to think about it as being significant," he said.

Drugmakers were boosted by a 0.7 percent gain in GlaxoSmithKline which rose after European healthcare regulators recommended the company's H1N1 swine flu vaccine for approval. [ID:nLJ445574]

AstraZeneca and Shire were up 0.3 percent and 0.9 percent respectively.

Miners were broadly higher, lifted by higher metals prices which benefited as the dollar weakened on the G20 comments.

Anglo American , BHP Billiton , Lonmin and Xstrata rose 0.2-1.5 percent.

On the downside, Eurasian Natural Resources slipped 2.6 percent, after Central African Mining & Exploration (CAMEC), which has accepted a $955 million takeover from ENRC, swung to a full-year loss of $343 million. [ID:nLP398685]

Oil services firm in Petrofac lost 2.7 percent after broker downgrades by Banc of America-Merrill Lynch and Goldman Sachs on a bearish outlook for the oil support services sector.

BANKS MIXED

Lloyds Banking Group came under pressure, falling 2.3 percent as analysts cited the need for possible capital raising.

"There's a lot of noise on rights issues to come ... and we're in a logical phase of consolidation after the very material gains since March," said Jonathan Lawlor head of European research at Fox-Pitt, Kelton.

Barclays and Standard Chartered fell 1 and 0.7 percent respectively, while HSBC gained 1.2 percent after the lender was seen increasingly focusing on emerging markets. [ID:nLP422830]. Royal Bank of Scotland was up 0.3 percent.

Defensive tobacco firms were also lower as appetite for riskier assets rose. British American Tobacco and Imperial Tobacco shedding 0.3 percent and 0.2 percent respectively.

U.S. futures pointed to a slightly higher open on Wall Street. Investors will keep an eye on data from across the Atlantic for further signs of the health of the U.S economy.

August durable good orders were due at 1230 GMT, the final September reading for the University of Michigan consumer sentiment index will be in focus at 1355 GMT and August new home sales will be eyed shortly after. (Editing by Dan Lalor)