FTSE up 0.4 pct by midday as oils, banks gain

* FTSE rises 0.4 pct

* Banks gain after better-than-expected Barclays results

* Oils, miners rise, tracking higher commodity prices

By Atul Prakash

LONDON, Aug 7 (Reuters) - Britain's blue-chip index was up 0.4 percent midday on Thursday ahead of the Bank of England's rate decision, as firmer commodity prices lifted miners and oil stocks and banks rose after Barclays (BARC.L) half-year results.

By 1042 GMT, the commodity-heavy FTSE 100 .FTSE was up 21.6 points at 5,507.7, after gaining 0.6 percent in the previous session. But the UK benchmark index has lost nearly 15 percent this year after five consecutive years of gains.

Oils and gas producers were the top sectoral gainer, helped by crude prices, which recovered from three-month lows as supply concerns returned to centre stage.

BP (BP.L), Royal Dutch Shell (RDSa.L), gas producer BG Group (BG.L), Cairn Energy (CNE.L) and Tullow Oil (TLW.L) added between 1.1 and 3.6 percent.  Continued...