* FTSE closes up 0.03 percent
* Miners rally after falls, U.S. relaxed on inflation
* Drugmakers mixed, Shire, AstraZeneca down after results
By David Brett
LONDON, April 28 (Reuters) - Britain's top share index closed flat on Thursday, failing again to close above key technical levels in the final trading session of the month, and ahead of the Royal Wedding bank holiday weekend.
The FTSE 100 closed up just 0.03 percent or 1.74 points, at 6,069.90 points in light volumes, and with the index having gained 2.7 percent in April.
London's blue chips, however, closed below 6,070, the level at which the index retraced from in early April.
Miners reversed several days of falls after metals prices got a weaker dollar boost from dovish comments on monetary policy overnight from U.S. Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke, who said he was relaxed over inflation.
U.S. economic growth braked sharply in the first quarter as higher food and gasoline prices dampened consumer spending, and sent a broad measure of inflation rising at its fastest pace in 2-1/2 years.
Patrick Armstrong at Distinction Asset Management, which has around 152 million pounds of assets under management urged investors to look beyond cash and government bonds for better returns on their investments.
"Investors should be looking for diversified strategies which target real returns above inflation, in order to protect and grow their savings," he said.
Kevin Arenson, chief investment officer at fund of hedge funds investor Stenham Advisors, which oversees $3.5 billion in assets, said he remained "neutral to slightly positive" on UK equities.
Most of that optimism came from the large amount of earnings made by UK corporates outside of the UK, especially in the light of any weakening in sterling going forward.
Among UK corporate earnings on Thursday, Royal Dutch Shell rose around 0.6 percent, bucking a weaker Stoxx Europe 600 oil and gas sector index, after the oil major posted forecast-beating results on oil price and refining margin gains.
Global advertising group WPP was also among the gainers, up 2.9 percent after it raised its outlook for the year, while insurer Standard Life rose 3.2 percent thanks to forecast-beating sales.
DRUGMAKERS MIXED
Shire posted a better than expected 22 percent rise in first-quarter earnings, but the shares shed 2.7 percent on concerns over increased investment and the impact of U.S. healthcare reform.
"Despite better than expected Q1 sales growth the subtle tweak upwards in expected full-year spending growth may temper upgrades to consensus 2011 EPS and thus the shares may consolidate short term after a strong run," analysts at Deutsche Bank said.
AstraZeneca fell 3.5 percent after posting forecast-lagging results that in turn profited peer GlaxoSmithKline, up 1.5 percent.
"Investors looking over the first-quarter results from GlaxoSmithKline yesterday and AstraZeneca this morning have two very different businesses to consider. Nevertheless, we believe the choice between the two is straightforward, and can be summarised in two words: 'buy Glaxo'," Seymour Pierce said in a note.
GlaxoSmithKline shares are now at their highest level in over six months following a strong rally since the beginning of March, but are indicating overbought territory at around 74 on the 14-day Wilder Smoothing relative strength index, where anything over 70 indicates overbought.
Underpinning some of the weaker corporate updates was the fragile outlook for UK consumers, a view underlined by the overnight release of fresh consumer morale data.
Against that backdrop, Whitbread fell 4.5 percent in heavy volume to lead the FTSE fallers after Britain's biggest hotel operator reported a slowdown in sales growth in the first quarter and forecast a very slow recovery in consumer confidence. (Editing by Greg Mahlich)