FTSE falls 1 percent on banks, commods

By Paul Sandle

LONDON (Reuters) - The top share index closed 1 percent down on Thursday, coming off earlier lows, as weaker crude and metals weighed on energy stocks and miners.

The FTSE 100 .FTSE ended 50.49 points lower at 5,207.36, having come off earlier lows of 5,166.46 but struggling around the 5,200 level.

"All stock markets are looking like they have run out of a bit of steam," said David Morrison, market strategist at GFT Global.

The benchmark has rallied more than 50 percent since hitting a low in early March, and is up 17 percent this year.

Energy stocks suffered with crude slipping below $81 a barrel as a stronger dollar encouraged investors to take profits from a 12-month high hit on Wednesday.

BP (BP.L), Royal Dutch Shell (RDSa.L) and BG Group (BG.L) dropped 1.4 to 1.5 percent.

On Wall Street stocks were mixed, with the Nasdaq .IXIC lower but the S&P 500 .SPX and the Dow Industrials .DJI positive, as data showing new jobless claims rose more than expected offset some generally positive earnings reports.

"The U.S. earnings season hasn't really helped to push markets forward and neither has any of the data that has been coming out," said Morrison.