Britain's FTSE 100 nudges higher as financials rally

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* FTSE 100 up 0.4 pct

* Financials among top risers

* Mid cap Beazley posts profit beat

* Miners lag

By Kit Rees

LONDON, Feb 3 (Reuters) - UK shares advanced on Friday asfinancials rose, with earnings in focus among smaller firms asBeazley jumped after a strong set of results.

The blue chip FTSE 100 index was up 0.4 percent at7,171.20 points by 1051 GMT.

Banking stocks Barclays and Royal Bank of Scotland were among the top gainers, up 2.5 percent and 1.8percent respectively with analysts citing renewed positivityaround the sector following last year's broader "reflationtrade" which picked up pace after the election of U.S. presidentDonald Trump.

"Generally investor sentiment around the banks, especiallywith Donald Trump coming in, is starting to improve," JonathanRoy, advisory investment manager at Charles Hanover Investments,said, adding that the fact that the UK banking sector had easedover the course of the week had brought it down to moreattractive levels.

A broker upgrade helped ITV rise 1.6 percent, asInvestec upped its rating on the stock to "buy" from "hold".

"While we remain concerned over long-term TV prospects,near-term sentiment is unusually gloomy post a tougher FY16 andBrexit/domestic fears," Investec analyst Steve Liechti said in anote.

"These negatives look increasingly priced in, in our view,with recent better/less bad trade press comment on TVadvertising."

Among smaller British companies, earnings fuelled mid capBeazley which jumped 8.6 percent to hit a record highafter the Lloyd's of London insurer's profit beat expectations.

"Beazley has set the bar high for its peers amongst thequoted Lloyd's insurers with a terrific set of results for2016," Eamonn Flanagan, analyst at Shore Capital Markets, saidin a note.

Fellow blue chip insurers Prudential and AdmiralGroup also rose.

The FTSE 100 index, however, was on track to post its thirdweek of losses in a row.

Mining companies were the biggest fallers,however, with the index down 2.6 percent and set to post itsbiggest weekly loss since mid-December.

Shares in Glencore, Rio Tinto, Antofagasta, BHP Billiton and Anglo American allfell between 2.7 percent to 3.4 percent as metals pricesretreated, with copper on the backfoot after China raisinginterest rates spooked metals markets. (Reporting by Kit Rees)