* FTSE 100 steady after early falls
* Housebuilders boosted with rates set to stay low
* Miners hit as copper sinks to 6 year low
* RSA falls, with focus on prospect of Zurich bid (Recasts)
By Alistair Smout
LONDON, Aug 6 (Reuters) - Britain's top share index got aboost from the Bank of England on Thursday, turning higher afterfewer officials voted for a rate rise than had been expected,leading investors to bet that borrowing costs will remain arecord lows for longer.
The FTSE 100 index was up 0.1 percent at 6,757.74points by 1200 GMT, having been in negative territory allmorning.
The index turned higher after the Bank of England said oneof its policymakers voted to start raising rates, but the othereight appeared in no rush to do so. The central bank forecastonly a slow pick-up in inflation, which now sits at zero.
Most economists taking part in a Reuters poll had expectedtwo members of the Monetary Policy Committee to vote for a ratehike. Some had expected three.
The prospect of continued low interest rates boostedrate-sensitive sectors such as housebuilders andproperty-related stocks.
Housebuilder Taylor Wimpey rose 3.1 percent, makingit one of the best-performers on the FTSE 100 and taking it to anew eight-year high.
Barratt Developments rose 2.3 percent, also hittingits highest level since 2007. Persimmon rose 2 percentto a record high.
"Housebuilders were weak on expectations of a quicker ratehike. Now, these are being bought again as a play on ratesstaying low for longer," said Atif Latif, director of trading atGuardian Stockbrokers. "We think concerns regarding rate risesand the likely impact on the sector have been overplayed."
Commodity prices remained weak, with copper reaching asix-year low, sending miners 2.2 percent lower.
Among other top declines, RSA fell 1.9 percent.Although RSA's own pretax profit beat expectations, Swiss rivalZurich Insurance, which is interested in bidding forRSA, said it would not overpay for the British insurer.
"In the short term, we expect RSA to trade based on theprobability of a takeover bid, rather than fundamentalvaluation," Bernstein analysts said in a note. "Hence, onbalance we expect the stock to trade down in the very shortterm."
Other insurers rose, with Old Mutual up 4.7 percentafter strong results.
Aviva also benefited from well-received earnings,adding 1.5 percent after posting forecast-beating half-yearoperating profit.
BP and Anglo American contributed toThursday's falls as they traded without the attraction of theirlatest dividend payouts, down 2.8 percent and 4.2 percentrespectively. (Additional reporting by Liisa Tuhkanen and Sudip Kar-Gupta,editing by Larry King)