BUZZ-British life insurers: Aviva and Old Mutual lead charge

** British life insurer Old Mutual (Other OTC: ODMTY - news) up 5 pct and Aviva (Other OTC: AIVAF - news) up 2 pct after reporting better-than-expected H1 earnings

** Old Mutual reported 20 pct rise in H1 oper profit, while Aviva's general and life insurance businesses helped oper profit up

** Life insurance providers crowd top end of FTSE-100 , with Old Mutual leading the charge

** Legal & General (LSE: LGEN.L - news) up 1.3 pct, Prudential Plc (HKSE: 2378.HK - news) and Standard Life (LSE: SL.L - news) up about 0.8 pct

** FTSE-350 Life Insurance index up 1.2 pct, with Just Retirement (LSE: JRG.L - news) and St James Place the only laggards

** Old Mutual shares touch 2-month high and poised for best single-day rise since Dec 2014

** Half of Legal and General's daily avg volume traded by late morning (abhiram.nandakumar.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net)