FTSE ends lower for 4th day

By Tricia Wright

LONDON (Reuters) - The top share index ended in negative territory for a fourth consecutive session on Friday as weakness in commodity stocks and banks outweighed gains from defensive pharmaceuticals.

The FTSE 100 .FTSE ended down 16.29 points, or 0.3 percent, at 5,251.41 points, the lowest close since Nov 10. It ended down 1.4 percent on Thursday, its biggest one-day fall for three weeks. The index is still up 52 percent from a March low.

"Sentiment appears to have started to shift slightly away from further gains, and towards a possible rebound in the U.S. dollar, as investors start to take money off the table and become slightly more risk averse," Michael Hewson, analyst at CMC Markets.

Energy stocks took the most points off the index as crude fell 1.1 percent, pressured by a stronger U.S. dollar. BG Group (BG.L), Royal Dutch Shell (RDSa.L) and BP (BP.L) shed 0.4 to 1 percent.

The mining sector was also on the back foot, against a backdrop of mixed metals prices, with Kazakhmys (KAZ.L), Eurasian Natural Resources (ENRC.L) and Vedanta Resources (VED.L) down 0.6 to 1.3 percent.

BHP Billiton (BLT.L) fell 1 percent. A leading Chilean mine union threatened to halt output at mines owned by BHP in solidarity with strikers at its Spence deposit, fanning supply disruption fears in the top copper producer.

A broker downgrade weighed on Rio Tinto (RIO.L), off 1.1 percent, with Credit Suisse cutting its rating on the stock to "underperform."

Banks were lower as investors' risk appetite remained fragile. HSBC (HSBA.L), Barclays (BARC.L), Standard Chartered (STAN.L) and Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY.L) fell 0.1 to 2 percent.