Britain's FTSE nudges higher though banks, Ashtead slide

* FTSE 100 up 0.1 pct at close

* Banks, miners under pressure

* Downgrade hits Ashtead (Recasts, adds detail and updates prices at close)

By Kit Rees

LONDON, Dec (Shanghai: 600875.SS - news) 19 (Reuters) - Britain's top share index edged higher on Monday though falls among mining companies and banks capped gains, while Ashtead Group (Frankfurt: 894565 - news) was hit by a broker downgrade.

The blue chip FTSE 100 index was up 0.1 percent at 7,017.16 points at its close after a choppy session.

The index was led higher by a rise among more defensive stocks, including pharma firms Hikma and Mediclinic , as well as Reckitt Benckiser (Xetra: A0M1W6 - news) and Unilever (Amsterdam: UZ8.AS - news) as investors took profits in banking stocks , which gained more than 7 percent last week.

Shares (Berlin: DI6.BE - news) in banking stocks Barclays (LSE: BARC.L - news) , Standard Chartered, Royal Bank of Scotland (LSE: RBS.L - news) and Lloyds were among the top fallers, down between 1.9 percent to 2.8 percent and tracking a broader decline among European banks .

Analysts said that uncertainty among Italian banking shares, in particular regarding a share issue from troubled lender Monte dei Paschi (Milan: BMPS.MI - news) , was dampening the sector.

"We're still waiting to hear whether Monte dei Paschi will be successful in that last-ditch attempt to raise the money it needs," Mike van Dulken, head of research at Accendo Markets, said. "Until we get more clarity, the bank sector is going to be a little on edge."

Ashtead Group dropped 4.8 percent, the top FTSE 100 faller, after UBS (LSE: 0QNR.L - news) downgraded the equipment rental firm to a "sell". UBS analysts said that pricing pressure was rise for Ashtead, and that they saw a limited benefit from any increase in U.S. infrastructure spending.

Shares in mining companies also came under pressure as the price of copper touched a four-week low.

While shares in British mining stocks have rallied around 96 percent so far this year, analysts at Deutsche Bank (IOB: 0H7D.IL - news) highlighted an acceleration or deceleration in Chinese consumption as a key risk for the sector.

"We expect cash to be returned to shareholders, but are concerned 'house-keeping' capex could start to creep up and new projects could be approved. We doubt that major M&A will make a comeback, and after the 100 percent rally year to date, we now have little upside to our TPs," analysts at Deutsche Bank said in a note.

Outside of the blue chips, shares in utility Drax Group (Frankfurt: D9F2.F - news) jumped more than 8 percent after an upgrade from SocGen (Paris: FR0000130809 - news) to "buy" from "hold", and the European Commission approved Drax's conversion of a third power plant unit to biomass from coal. (Reporting by Kit Rees; editing by Mark Heinrich)