LONDON, Aug. 21 (Xinhua) -- Rising commodity prices helped lift energy and mining shares on the London Stock Exchange, offsetting falls among banking stocks as credit crunch jitters returned.
The FTSE 100 index was up by just 0.6 of a point at 5372.4 by 12.22 p.m. (1122 GMT).
Among the top risers in the index, Tullow Oil and mining firm Kazakhmys were both up by nearly 4 percent.
But worrying news about credit crunch problems persisting in the United States hit British banks. Lloyds TSB shares fell 1.9 percent while HSBC was 1.8 percent lower.
