BHP leads Britain's FTSE lower after burst dam

* FTSE 100 down 0.1 pct, steady ahead of US jobs data

* BHP falls after Brazilian dam bursts, flooding village

* IAG, Inmarsat (Other OTC: IMASY - news) rise after results

* Burberry hit by Richemont read-across (Adds quote and detail, updates prices)

By Kit Rees and Alistair Smout

LONDON, Nov 6 (Reuters) - Britain's top share index inched lower on Friday, with gains by IAG and Inmarsat on well-received results offset by a fall in BHP Billiton (NYSE: BBL - news) after a dam burst at one of its Brazilian mines.

A dam holding back waste water from an iron ore mine in Brazil that is owned by Vale and BHP Billiton burst on Thursday, devastating a nearby town with mudslides and reportedly leaving scores dead or missing.

BHP Billiton shares fell 5.3 percent, trimming 4.5 points off the FTSE 100 and accounting for more than half of the index's fall.

"After commodity stocks had been battered, there had been a small resurgence in the sector. BHP had seen a bit of a recovery, but this news is not helpful," said Mike McCudden, head of retail derivatives at Interactive Investor.

The blue chip FTSE 100 was down 0.1 percent at 6,359.49 points by 1211 GMT, outperforming European indexes.

Investors were looking towards U.S (Other OTC: UBGXF - news) . jobs data later in the session to provide further direction.

"(Investors are) not willing to place any big bets before the report comes out which could shake things up and ... should give us a better idea as to how likely December is for a rate hike," Jasper Lawler, market analyst at CMC Markets, said.

Nonfarm payrolls growth likely accelerated in October after two straight months of tepid gains, with wages also picking up in a show of domestic strength that would bolster prospects for a December interest rate hike from the Federal Reserve.

Earnings reports boosted shares in British Airways owner IAG , which rose 2.8 percent after lifting its long-term guidance, while Inmarsat rose 1.8 percent after its results.

But Burberry was hit by weak earnings from Switzerland, where Richemont fell 8 percent after poorly received results that knocked back the luxury sector. Burberry fell 1.8 percent.

The top individual riser was CRH (EUREX: 558474.EX - news) , up 4 percent after UBS (NYSEArca: FBGX - news) upgraded the construction sector to "overweight", naming CRH as a preferred pick.

Outside the blue chips, interdealer broker Tullet Prebon recovered to trade up 5.9 percent after saying that it was in talks with ICAP (LSE: IAP.L - news) regarding the possible acquisition of ICAP's global broking business.

The company had opened sharply lower earlier in the trading session. (Reporting by Alistair Smout; Editing by Tom Heneghan)