Britain's FTSE edges higher, pharmaceuticals lead gainers

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* FTSE up 0.2 percent

* British industry plan supports pharma shares

* Aviva (Other OTC: AIVAF - news) and financials rise

* EasyJet (Frankfurt: A1JTC1 - news) lead gainers

By Julien Ponthus

LONDON, Nov 27 (Reuters) - British shares edged higher on Monday, reversing early losses thanks to strong rises in pharmaceutical and financial stocks.

At 0948 GMT, Britain's blue-chip FTSE 100 index was up 0.24 percent at 7,427.39.

Heathcare shares were the top performing sector with GlaxoSmithKline (Other OTC: GLAXF - news) up 1.5 percent after UBS (LSE: 0QNR.L - news) raised its rating on the stocks.

The British government, which unveiled a strategic plan to boost industry in the wake of Brexit, said it had secured a major investment from Merck & Co (Swiss: MRK-USD.SW - news) with Life Sciences one of the key sectors targeted.

"It seems to be giving them a bit of a boost", said Chris Beauchamp, Chief Market Analyst at IG (Frankfurt: A0EARV - news) .

Drugmaker AstraZeneca also rose by 0.5 percent after it announced plans to expand its already substantial Chinese business through a new drug development joint venture with a state-backed private equity fund.

Low cost airline Easyjet was the top riser, adding 2.9 percent after BNP Paribas (LSE: 0HB5.L - news) increased its estimates for the stock and said the demise of Air Berlin (LSE: 0GPE.L - news) was positive for Easyjet.

Financials were also strongly in positive territory with Aviva up 2.1 percent after the Sunday Times reported the British insurer was looking to spend over 1 billion pounds on share buybacks after bulking up its capital reserves.

Prudential (SES: K6S.SI - news) and Old Mutual (Other OTC: ODMUF - news) were also rising, up 1.3 percent and 1.1 percent respectively.

British tech firm Micro Focus International (Frankfurt: M7Q4.F - news) was the worst performer with a 2.1 percent fall, as Deutsche Bank (IOB: 0H7D.IL - news) cut its rating for the stock.

Centrica (Frankfurt: A0DK6K - news) , which issued a profit warning last week, also shed 1.3 percent as Bernstein lowered its rating for the group. (Reporting by Julien Ponthus; Editing by Keith Weir)