** British life insurer Old Mutual up 5 pct andAviva up 2 pct after reporting better-than-expected H1earnings
** Old Mutual reported 20 pct rise in H1 oper profit, whileAviva's general and life insurance businesses helped oper profitup
** Life insurance providers crowd top end of FTSE-100, with Old Mutual leading the charge
** Legal & General up 1.3 pct, Prudential Plc and Standard Life up about 0.8 pct
** FTSE-350 Life Insurance index up 1.2 pct,with Just Retirement and St James Place the onlylaggards
** Old Mutual shares touch 2-month high and poised for bestsingle-day rise since Dec 2014
** Half of Legal and General's daily avg volume traded bylate morning (abhiram.nandakumar.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net)