* FTSE down 0.5 percent as U.S. ISM disappoints
* Falling commodity prices drag oils lower
* Metals slide and mining stocks follow
* Lloyds' numbers help banks and land owners higher
By David Brett
LONDON, August 5 (Reuters) - Britain's blue chip shares closed down 0.5 percent on Wednesday, after weaker than expected economic data in the U.S. dragged equities lower, with oil producers and miners leading the losers.
The benchmark FTSE 100 ended 24.24 points lower at 4,647.13, shy of Monday's close when the index hit its best closing level since the collapse of Lehman Brothers late last year.
"The markets have been stuffed. The more disappointing figure was the ISM number, I don't think the ADP data was vastly out of sync with what was expected, it was a little worse but not that much worse," Mike Lenhoff, chief strategist at Brewin Dolphin.
The Institute for Supply Management (ISM) said its service sector index fell to 46.4 last month from 47.0 in June and was below economists' median forecast for a rise to 48.0. Employment service ADP said U.S. private employers shed 371,000 jobs in July.
"A bout of consolidation was due anyway ... Given the view that is drawing that a recovery is beginning in the current quarter and the general drift of the newsflow generally is toward improvement, it seems it will be a limited sell-off and momentum will be sustained," Lenhoff said.
Energy stocks headed south as demand for crude waned, falling below $70 a barrel.
BP, Cairn Energy and Tullow Oil fell between 1 and 1.9 percent, while BG Group and Royal Dutch Shell fell 3.6 and 3.9 percent respectively as the companies traded ex-dividend.
Mining stocks also took a hit as metal prices came under attack following the release of the data in the United States.
Randgold Resources, BHP Billiton, Rio Tinto, Antofagasta and Xstrata were down between 1 and 4.3 percent.
Fresnillo shed 1.2 percent after Banc of America-Merrill Lynch downgraded the stock to "neutral" from "buy" in a review of the mining sector.
Long-term, Banc of America-Merrill Lynch said the outlook for metals prices was rosy as the global economy began to pick up, with commodity-consuming nations such as the United States and China expected to show growth in 2010.
AstraZeneca and Reed Elsevier were also lower after trading ex-dividend.
Other defensives were lower as GlaxoSmithKline, Brtish American Tobacco and Imperial Tobacco dropped 0.2-1.6 percent.
Shire bucked the trend, rising 4.2 percent, after Britain's third biggest drug maker reported second-quarter revenues ahead of expectations and reiterated guidance for the full-year.
BANKS IN DEMAND
Banks owed their support to Lloyds, which jumped 10.6 percent after it posted a 4 billion pound loss in the first half of the year as it was hit by a surge in bad debts from the HBOS business, but said it was through the worst..
"Banks are very much in focus and while the (Lloyds) numbers weren't great, they could have been very much worse," said Peter Dixon, economist at Commerzbank.
Barclays, Standard Chartered and Royal Bank of Scotland were all higher, adding between 2.4 and 4.4 percent.
Property firms also drew support from the Lloyds figures, which showed impairments from its multi-billion pound commercial mortgage book had peaked, and data showing house prices in Britain jumped 1.1 percent in July, according to lender Halifax.
British Land, Hammerson, Land Securities Group and Liberty International advanced between 3.7 and 5.8 percent.
Thursday sees the Bank of England and the European Central Bank announce their latest interest rate decisions, but the focus will be on the BoE's quantitative easing plans. (Editing by Rupert Winchester)