FTSE slips but mid-caps surge hit record high as earnings impress

* FTSE 100 down 0.15 pct

* Mid-caps hit fresh record

* Homeserve (LSE: HSV.L - news) surges to record high on results beat

* Results disappointment sends Topps Tiles (LSE: TPT.L - news) down (Adds details, closing prices)

By Helen Reid

LONDON, May 23 (Reuters) - British shares fell slightly on Tuesday as losses among miners more than offset stronger banks, while solid earnings results among mid-cap companies drove the FTSE 250 to a fresh all-time high.

The FTSE 100 index of Britain's largest companies ended down 0.15 percent, reversing earlier gains but still near last Tuesday's record level of 7,533.70 points, while the FTSE 250 added 0.04 percent to reach 19,920.12 points.

"I think there are reasons why the market can go higher from here. It doesn't look expensive versus earnings growth, and it doesn't look expensive in historical terms," said Callum Abbot, UK equity fund manager at JP Morgan Asset Management.

"The market is trading at 15 times forward earnings, which doesn't seem unreasonable given you are looking at earnings growth in the mid-teens." He pointed also to the index's yield being relatively higher than other developed equity markets.

Blue-chip gains were underpinned by banks RBS (LSE: RBS.L - news) and Barclays (LSE: BARC.L - news) , and defence contractor Babcock.

Babcock rose 2.9 percent, the biggest gainer on the FTSE, after a positive note from Deutsche Bank (IOB: 0H7D.IL - news) saying the stock could rebound if the firm reports solid results on Wednesday.

Among top gainers, EasyJet (Frankfurt: A1JTC1 - news) rose 2.5 percent after a top-rated RBC analyst upgraded the stock, saying the airline had reached its profit nadir, and pointing to an expanding gap of strong customer rankings versus competitors.

The airline's shares recovered all the lost ground since a badly-received earnings update last week sent the stock tumbling.

Miners dragged on the index after shares in conglomerate Noble Group sold off sharply in Singapore, with the firm forced to halt trading after a 32 percent plunge as ratings agency S&P downgraded it on weak cash flows and profitability.

Glencore (Frankfurt: 8GC.F - news) , BHP, Rio Tinto (Hanover: CRA1.HA - news) and Randgold Resources all fell between 0.6 and 1.6 percent.

Merlin, which runs London attractions including Madame Tussauds waxworks and the aquarium and is exposed to tourism, was among the biggest fallers, down 1.5 percent after Monday's deadly attack in Manchester.

The European travel and leisure sector ( .SXTP) was down 0.3 percent.

More domestically focused mid-cap stocks outperformed large-caps again, hitting a fresh record high of 19,984.66 points during the session as company results impressed.

Home emergency insurance provider Homeserve surged more than 10 percent to a record high after its full-year results beat expectations.

"Homeserve has increased investment in its front line staff and network," said Liberum analysts, adding that the firm's acquisition of online trader listings website Checkatrade in February could boost its access to an as yet untapped clientele.

Britain's biggest sandwich maker Greencore jumped 7.3 percent after its results came in ahead of expectations, alleviating investors' concerns about inflation denting consumer appetite, with what Jefferies analysts called 'reassuring commentary' around inflation recovery.

Small-cap tile retailer Topps Tiles was less upbeat about the economy, pointing to a challenging trading environment and saying full-year profit would come in at the low end of analysts' expectations. Its shares fell 6.6 percent, the top small-cap losers. (Additional reporting by Danilo Masoni; Editing by Catherine Evans)