Weir Group supports Britain's FTSE near record close

* FTSE 100 down 0.1 pct

* Weir Group jumps on bid speculation

* FTSE 100 volume thin before US jobs

* Focus on earnings as much as jobs number - analysts

By Alistair Smout

LONDON, March 6 (Reuters) - Britain's top share index edged lower on Friday after posting its highest ever close in the previous session, although the market was supported by a jump in Weir Group.

The FTSE 100 was 0.1 percent lower, down 9.64 points at 6,951.50 by 0829 GMT, having posted a record close of 6,961.14 on Thursday. The index is just 0.3 percent off an all-time record high set on Monday.

Weir Group was the stand-out mover, jumping 3.8 percent, with traders citing speculation that the engineering firm may be subject to a bid after a slump in its share price in recent months.

Media reports said there was speculation that private equity firms may be mulling a bid for the engineer after a 30 percent slump since September last year, which has suffered as oil firms cutting back on investment in the face of falling oil prices.

"The share price has fallen by almost a third over the last six months as the commodities rout has taken a toll on prospects, so the prospect of someone seeing value at this level cannot be ruled out," Tony Cross, market analyst at Trustnet Direct, said in a note.

Weir Group saw almost half its 90 day average trade in just the first 45 minutes of the session.

Traders said that market volumes were expected to remain light, with few strong bets placed either way before closely-followed U.S. jobs data, due at 1330 GMT.

A Reuters survey of economists forecast a 240,000 increase in non-farm payrolls after a 257,000 gain in January. That would mark the 12th straight month of job increases above 200,000, the longest such run since 1994.

As well as the number of new jobs, focus would also be on any increase in earnings, analysts said.

"As the U.S. central bank is really only concerned about low inflation levels now it is less the rise in employment and more the wage rises that will provide interesting information," analysts at Commerzbank (Xetra: CBK100 - news) said in a note. (Editing by Robin Pomeroy)