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(ADVISORY - Follow European and UK stock markets in real timeon the Reuters Live Markets blog on Eikon, see cpurl://apps.cp./cms/?pageId=livemarkets)
* FTSE 100 down 0.1 percent
* Reckitt Benckiser takeover news buoys stock
* Aberdeen fund manager sinks on further outflows
LONDON, Feb 2 (Reuters) - Britain's blue-chip FTSE 100 index was flat on Thursday, as a strong sterling offsetgains by consumer products group Reckitt Benckiser related to a potential acquisition, as well as strong energy andmining sectors.
The index held steady as sterling reached a seven-week highafter lawmakers last night voted in favour of beginning theBrexit process. A strong sterling weighs on theindex heavy in foreign-earning companies.
Reckitt Benckiser was a top gainer after saying it was inadvanced talks to buy U.S. baby-food maker Mead Johnson. Its shares were last up 2.5 percent and werethrough their 30-day average daily volume in the first 40minutes of trade.
"Reckitt Benckiser makes it a brace of companies whose shareprices have defied traditional M&A reaction recently, rising onnews of spending big to acquire," Mike van Dulken, head ofresearch at Accendo Markets, said in a note.
Foodservice company Compass Group gained 2.6 percentafter maintaining its full-year outlook.
Miners Randgold Resources and Fresnillo also supported the index, up 1.5 to 2.1 percent respectively.
Shares in oil major Shell climbed 1.3 percentdespite profits missing expectations, as debt reduction effortsand a healthy dividend pleased investors.
"Upstream made a profit two quarters in a row, which willgive people encouragement, and cash flow was strong," added RussMould, investment director at AJ Bell.
Worldpay Group was the worst-performing blue-chipstock, down 3.8 percent after stakeholder Ship Global 2 &CYS.C.A. sold 214 million shares in the online payments company. The stock was through 10 days' worth of averagetrading volume as markets digested the sale.
Pharmaceuticals giant AstraZeneca was also a faller,down 1.5 percent after it said profit and revenue would declinethis year as cheap generic versions of its cholesterol drug hitsales.
Energy companies led the small-cap index higher,with oil exploration consultant RPS Group up 9.8 percent afterit increased its profit outlook. Its shares were headed fortheir best daily gains since Feb. 2015.
Liberum analysts cited President Trump's commitment toinfrastructure spending, and reinitiation of the Keystone XLpipeline project, as positive for RPS, on which it has a 'buy'rating.
Aberdeen Asset Management was the worst-performingstock in the mid-cap index, down 4.7 percent after itsfirst-quarter trading update showed outflows of 10.5 billionpounds, higher than expected.
This marks the 14th consecutive quarter of equity outflowsfor the firm, UBS analysts said. (Reporting by Helen Reid; Editing by Mark Potter)
