Miners and banks help Britain's FTSE 100 to advance

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* Blue-chip FTSE 100 index up 0.4 percent

* Basic resources (Frankfurt: W8Z.F - news) stocks among top gainers

* Precious metals miners track weaker gold

By Atul Prakash

LONDON, Dec (Shanghai: 600875.SS - news) 5 (Reuters) - Britain's top share index climbed on Monday, after falling in the previous two sessions, with basic resources stocks leading the market higher on the back of rising prices of industrial metals such as copper.

The broader UK market showed little reaction to Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi's resignation announcement after he suffered a crushing defeat in a referendum on constitutional reform.

The UK mining index rose 0.4 percent, the top sectoral gainer, after prices of copper climbed nearly 2 percent on an improving demand outlook and concerns about supply constraints next year.

"Despite a 'No' referendum vote in Italy, markets hold up rather well. UK banks have seen some buying interest on expectations the sector may have seen the worst, while miners are boosted by higher metals prices and Citi's bullish outlook on the sector," said Jawaid Afsar, senior trader at Securequity.

"We are in a Santa Rally mode. There many be some headwinds out there, but for the time being they are on the back burner."

Citigroup (NYSE: C - news) upgraded its stance on Western European miners to "bullish" from "bearish", saying a more robust outlook for the commodity complex in 2017 was likely to lead to cash flow and earnings upgrades.

Citigroup raised its rating on BHP Billiton (NYSE: BBL - news) to "buy" from "sell", on Glencore (HKSE: 0805.HK - news) to "buy" from "neutral" and on Rio Tinto (Hanover: CRA1.HA - news) and Anglo American (LSE: AAL.L - news) to "neutral" from "sell".

Shares (Berlin: DI6.BE - news) in Antofagasta (Other OTC: ANFGF - news) , BHP Billiton, Rio Tinto and Glencore rose 1.5 to 2.5 percent.

Britain's blue-chip FTSE 100 index was up 0.4 percent by 1030 GMT, after falling 0.3 percent in the previous session and 0.5 percent on Thursday. The benchmark index is up more than 8 percent so far this year.

British banks also gained, with some investors taking advantage of the sector's decline to a three-week low. The sector index was up 0.9 percent, boosted by 2.8 percent and 1.9 percent gains in shares of Barclays (LSE: BARC.L - news) and Royal Bank of Scotland (LSE: RBS.L - news) respectively.

Precious metals miners, however, came under pressure after the price of gold fell more than 1 percent.

Shares in Randgold Resources, Fresnillo (Frankfurt: A0MVZE - news) , Acacia Mining (Frankfurt: 33A.F - news) and Centamin (Frankfurt: A1JPZ6 - news) dropped by 1.2 to 3.3 percent.

Elsewhere, shares in Polypipe Group (Frankfurt: A1113H - news) rose more than 4 percent, the top mid-cap riser, after Jefferies raised its rating on the commercial and residential piping systems maker to "buy".

On the macroeconomic front, a survey showed businesses in Britain's services sector grew last month at their fastest pace since January, and the broader economy kept up its momentum in late 2016, even if firms have some worries about the year ahead. (Reporting by Atul Prakash; Editing by Mark Potter)