UK's FTSE steadies near five-month highs as Glaxo rises

* FTSE 100 steadies near 5-month highs

* Positive melanoma data lifts Glaxo

* Tate & Lyle (LSE: TATE.L - news) slides after profit warning

By Sudip Kar-Gupta

LONDON, Feb 6 (Reuters) - Britain's top equity index steadied near five-month highs on Friday, with healthcare group GlaxoSmithKline (Other OTC: GLAXF - news) outperforming after positive reports on some Glaxo products.

The FTSE 100 index was flat at 6,861.96 points going into the close of the trading session, around its highest level since early September.

GlaxoSmithKline's shares rose 1.7 percent after the company said a study showed good results for a melanoma drug that combines two of its approved treatments.

The FTSE 100 also got a lift after the United States reported on Friday the employment had grown and wages rebounded in January.

The U.S. employment data revived talk the Federal Reserve would raise interest rates by mid-year, but some traders said the signs of progress in the world's biggest economy were still encouraging for global stock markets.

"Wage growth has been the fly in the ointment for some time now, so January's leap in take-home pay will deliver a real psychological boost to the markets," said MB Capital trading director Marcus Bullus.

Food ingredients company Tate & Lyle underperformed after it said annual profits would fall short of an earlier forecast because of a weak performance by its sweeteners unit. The company -- a member of the FTSE 250 mid-cap index -- lost around a tenth of its market value.

"Tate shares are being dumped by disappointed investors, with management finding no way of sugar-coating a third profit warning in a year," said Accendo Markets' head of research Mike van Dulken.

The FTSE 100 reached a peak last year of 6,904.86 points, its highest since early 2000, although it lost ground at the end of 2014. The index is up around 4 percent so far in 2015. (Additional reporting by Atul Prakash; Editing by Larry King)