* FTSE 100 up 0.1 percent
* Inmarsat gains as Goldman upgrades
* Prudential dips following JPMorgan downgrade
* BP falls after RBS downgrade
By Tricia Wright
LONDON, Oct 11 (Reuters) - Britain's top share index edged higher early on Monday, with an upgrade from Goldman Sachs aiding Inmarsat, while Prudential was pressured by a JPMorgan Cazenove downgrade.
By 0806 GMT, the FTSE 100 was up 4.32 points, or 0.1 percent, at 5,661.93, after it closed 4.52 points, or 0.1 percent, lower on Friday at 5,657.61.
Broker recommendations and target price changes were behind a number of the individual equity moves, traders said.
Inmarsat rose 1.4 percent after Goldman Sachs upgraded its rating on the British satellite operator to "buy" from "neutral" and hiked its target price to 940 pence from 875 pence, on valuation grounds.
Smiths Group climbed 1.5 percent as UBS raised its target price for shares in the technology firm to 1,550 pence from 1,400 pence.
On the downside, Prudential shed 1.8 percent after JPMorgan downgraded its rating for the insurer to "underweight" from "neutral", citing valuation grounds.
And BP slipped 0.5 percent, hurt by a downgrade from RBS to "hold" from "buy".
RBS said in a note: "For the share price to rise further, a higher proportion of investors must believe that BP was not grossly negligent in the Macondo disaster. This outcome is neither certain nor likely to be imminent."
BHP Billiton fell 0.6 percent. Rival prospective bidders may be looking to derail its $39 billion bid for Canada's Potash Corp, newspaper reports said, with China's Sinochem and a major Canadian pension fund amongst those working on plans.
U.S. EARNINGS EYED
The Dow Jones Industrials index closed above the 11,000 mark for the first time in five months on Friday as a surprisingly weak jobs report strengthened the case for more stimulus from the Federal Reserve.
Finance leaders meeting over the weekend in Washington produced no quick fix for global economic imbalances, suggesting the cheap money trade of selling dollars to buy emerging market assets and commodities looks set to continue for now.
"(The FTSE) is obviously (seeing) something of a tail-wind from the States on Friday which finished strongly," Richard Hunter, head of UK equities at Hargreaves Lansdown said.
"The focus has potentially shifted slightly now -- for the last few weeks it's been the economy whereas the next couple of weeks, it'll probably switch to corporates, particularly in the U.S.," he said.
In terms of U.S. corporate earnings, figures are due amongst others this week from Intel on Tuesday, JP Morgan Chase on Wednesday, Google on Thursday, and General Electric on Friday.
The British government is wasting money in procurement by failing to take advantage of its size and credit rating to get the best deals from its suppliers, billionaire retail tycoon Philip Green said on Monday in a government-commissioned report.
No important domestic economic data is due to be released on Monday. (Editing by Greg Mahlich)