* FTSE up 0.4 percent as global markets extend rally
* Miners, oil higher as commodity prices rise
* UK surveys show business confidence returning
By David Brett
LONDON, Aug 24 (Reuters) - Britain's top shares rose 0.4 percent mid-session on Monday as robust commodity prices pushing miners and oils higher, and financial stocks found support on optimism over the pace of global economic recovery.
At 1053 GMT, the FTSE 100 index was up 21.00 points at 4,871.89, albeit having hit a fresh 2009 peak of 4,911.41 earlier, still on course for a fifth straight session of gains.
The UK benchmark rose 2.9 percent last week and is up 10.6 percent this year, after rallying 42 percent since hitting a floor in early March.
"The markets are continually looking like pricing in a V shaped recovery but the next 30-40 days will be crucial," said Joshua Raymond, market strategist at City Index.
"Considering the momentum the market has right now, you are going to have to be quite brave to trade against the trend."
Miners headed the FTSE 100 leaderboard on firmer metal prices. Fresnillo, Lonmin, Vedanta Resources, Xstrata, Rio Tinto and Anglo American put on from 2.4 to 5.2 percent.
Oil producers were higher, with crude prices sticking around $74 a barrel on the prospect of increasing demand.
BP, Royal Dutch Shell, BG Group and Cairn Energy added between 0.3 and 1.3 percent.
Financials also saw demand. Royal Bank of Scotland, Lloyds Banking Group and Barclays rose from 2 to 5.1 percent.
RBS and Lloyds have set up subsidiaries that buy properties taken over by the bailed-out banks in a bid to stave off billions of losses that would be incurred if the repossessed assets were sold in the open market, The Times said on Monday.
Lloyds was also buoyed by a report in the Mail on Sunday that said Clive Cowdery's Resolution was in talks with the bank over the potential sale of its Clerical Medical unit. Both Resolution and Lloyds declined to comment.
Resolution shares gained 2.8 percent. Friends Provident, which this month agreed to a takeover by Resolution, added 1.0 percent.
Other life insurers also rallied. Legal & General, Prudential, Aviva, Old Mutual and Standard Life climbed 0.6 to 1.9 percent.
DEFENSIVES DOWN
Perceived defensive issues such as drugmakers and tobacco stocks which have lagged behind the broader market rally, with only a 25 percent gain since March, were weak.
GlaxoSmithKline and Shire dropped 1.2 and 1.0 percent respectively, while British American Tobacco and Imperial Tobacco shed 0.1 and 0.2 percent each.
General retailers were weaker too. Home Retail, Kingfisher, Marks and Spencer and Next dropped between 0.4 and 1.1 percent.
Among individual fallers, security services firm G4S lost 8.3 percent after its first-half results failed to inspire, with Panmure Gordon highlighting lower-than-expected organic growth.
There was more good news for the bulls in the shape of two surveys on the British economy, released overnight, which added to the positive view on a recovery.
UK business confidence has turned positive for the first time in two years, according to the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW).
Meanwhile, British service sector firms see a pick-up in business in the coming months, but some expect profits to fall amid continued downward pressure on prices, a Confederation of British Industry survey showed.
With no domestic economic data released on Monday, Friday's second reading of UK second-quarter GDP will be the week's main focus.
The July Chicago Fed National Activity index will be released at 1230 GMT and, ahead of that data, U.S. stock index futures,, pointed to a higher open on Wall Street, extending Friday's advance. (Editing by Jon Loades-Carter)