FTSE dragged lower by pharmaceuticals,oil firms up

* FTSE 100 down 0.1 pct

* Heavyweight pharmas weigh

* Higher energy price, strong results buoy energy stocks

* Taylor Wimpey H1 profits drop

By Michael Taylor

LONDON, Aug 27 (Reuters) - Britain's leading shares fell by midday on Wednesday, undercut by weaker drugmakers, while oil shares tracked rising U.S. crude prices.

At 1108 GMT the FTSE 100 .FTSE was down 6.7 points, or 0.1 percent at 5,464.0. The UK's bluechip index is now down about 15 percent this year on fears of a recession, concerns over rising commodity prices and the impact of a global credit crunch.

Pharmaceuticals suffered as traders said investors were switching from the sector, which has been the best performer in Europe so far this year. GlaxoSmithKline (GSK.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) lost 1.6 percent and AstraZeneca (AZN.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) dipped 1.1 percent.

On the upside, heavyweight oil shares were in demand as crude prices CLc1 traded towards $118 a barrel and after oil explorer Tullow Oil (TLW.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) said net profit from continued activities more than doubled in the first half of the year to 126 million pounds helped by higher oil prices.

Tullow Oil tacked on 1.6 percent. [ID:nLR84584]

Oil and gas services firm Petrofac (PFC.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) also reported better-than-expected first-half net profit up 57 percent from a year ago and its shares rose 4.4 percent.

BP (BP.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), Royal Dutch Shell (RDSa.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), gas producer BG Group (BG.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) and Cairn Energy (CNE.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) put on 0.4 to 3.4 percent.

In other commodities, miner Antofagasta (ANTO.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) posted an 8.8 percent rise in first-half earnings per share, helped by higher copper output and prices which outweighed rising costs. Its stock was up 3.1 percent.

"We have some reasonably big companies reporting today, the likes of Antofagasta and Tullow Oil, but in some way no great surprises. The stocks are reacting as you might expect," said Tim Hughes, head of sales trading.

Hughes said trading volume was light because many traders and fund managers were on holiday, leaving the market with little direction.  Continued...