* FTSE 100 up 0.3 percent by midday
* Oil majors, miners gain on rising commodity prices
* BA gains on pay cut agreement, Vodafone down
By Harpreet Bhal
LONDON, June 26 (Reuters) - Britain's top share index gained 0.3 percent by midday as a rebound in crude prices lifted energy firms, while defensive tobacco stocks and drugmakers also rose outweighing weakness in heavyweight Vodafone.
By 1107 GMT, the FTSE 100 rose 11.04 points at 4,263.61, after falling 0.6 percent on Thursday's close.
Oil majors added the most points to the index, as crude oil prices stayed above $71, with BG Group, BP and Royal Dutch Shell rising between 0.2 and 1.3 percent.
The FTSE 100 has risen 23 percent since the all-time low hit in March. It touched a peak of 4,675.68 in May but fell back to just above 4,200 last week as jitters about the state of the global economy crept back.
Joshua Raymond, strategist at City Index said the market could experience sideways movement as trading volumes fall in the summer months.
"We're looking now towards the Q2 earnings season. We feel that could just about be enough to dangle the carrot in front of investors to start buying back and break above levels that are handicapping us at the moment," he said.
In thin, skittish trading a 1.2 percent decline in mobile operator Vodafone weighed on the index, offsetting much of the gains.
BA CLIMBS
British Airways advanced 1.3 percent after it said nearly 7,000 staff had agreed to voluntary pay cuts in a bid to save the airline costs as it battles a downturn in travel.
Shares in drugmaker AstraZeneca added 0.7 percent, buoyed by a positive recommendation for its diabetes drug Onglyza, which is partnered with Bristol-Myers Squibb.
Banks were mixed, with HSBC and Royal Bank of Scotland adding 0.9 and 2.4 percent respectively. Barclays, Lloyds and Standard Chartered fell between 1 and 1.9 percent.
Britain plans to strengthen the role of the Financial Services Authority, the Financial Times said on Friday, a day after the government dismissed talks of a rift with the head of the country's central bank over regulation.
The Bank of England said on Friday that British banks look in better shape than six months ago but are still vulnerable to economic shocks.
In a fresh sign of the health of the British economy, employee-owned retailer John Lewis, seen as a barometer of British retail spending, said on Friday its 27 UK department stores recorded their best week of the first half so far, partly helped by significant purchases for Father's Day.
High street peers Marks & Spencer and Next gained 1.7 and 1 percent respectively.
In the absence of any important UK economic data, investors in London will be eyeing U.S. May personal income and consumption numbers, the Fed's preferred measure of inflation, and the final reading of the University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment index to gauge the condition of the U.S. economy. (Editing by Jon Loades-Carter)