* Miners, oil majors down on lower oil and commodity prices
* Barclays falls 1.6 percent, confirms $13.5 bln BGI sale
* Pharmaceuticals bolster index, Glaxo to cut prices in EM
By Farah Master
LONDON, June 12 (Reuters) - Britain's leading share index edged 0.1 percent lower in late morning trade on Friday, with gains from pharmaceuticals offset by losses in commodity stocks, with investors still cautious on prospects for a sustained economic recovery.
By 1000 GMT the FTSE 100 was 6.15 points lower at 4,455.72 after closing up 25.12 points at 4,461.87 on Thursday.
The index is up around 29 percent since hitting a six-year trough in March, but has held in a tight range between about 4,400 and 4,500 for the last month.
"Yes we are seeing a little bit of a recovery but it is not growth. There is a long long way to go yet, and recession has not gone away," said Howard Wheeldon, strategist at BGC Partners
"It's been a very interesting week, we have had some good momentum and now it is time for perhaps a little bit of stagnation."
Asian shares gained on Friday, supported by data that showed China's industrial output rose more than expected in May but softer commodity prices indicate that demand is cooling as risk appetite ebbs slightly.
Mining stocks were the biggest drag on the index with Antofagasta, Kazakhmys, Eurasian Natural Resources, Anglo American and Lonmin down 2.1-3.5 percent.
Shares in Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton fell 2.1 and 1.6 percent respectively after Australia's government gave cautious support for the two miners' planned iron ore joint venture but a newspaper reported that China had threatened sanctions against the two if the deal went ahead.
Oil majors also fell after the price of crude retreated towards $72 a barrel, ending a three-day rally. Oil peaked at over $73 on Thursday, its highest since Oct. 20.
BP, Royal Dutch Shell, BG Group, Tullow Oil and Cairn Energy were lower by 0.4 and 3.4 percent.
BARCLAYS, BGI & BLACKROCK
Barclays fell 1.9 percent after it confirmed a deal to sell its investment arm BGI to BlackRock Inc. for $13.5 billion, in a blockbuster deal that will create the world's biggest asset manager.
"Gone are the days when bank boards thought diversifying into asset management would offset the volatility of investment banking earnings - now there will be a pack of hungry M&A advisers looking at other banks' investment arms," Manoj Ladwa, senior trader, ETX Capital said in a note.
Other banks were higher with Lloyds Banking Group, Royal Bank of Scotland and heavyweight HSBC up between 0.8 and 3.2. Standard Chartered fell 1.8 percent.
Pharmaceutical companies added the most points to the index as investors shifted assets into the defensive sector with GlaxoSmithKline up 1.2 percent.
The pharmaceuticals giant is planning to cut prices of many of its leading medicines in emerging markets, CEO Andrew Witty told the Financial Times.
Astrazeneca rose 1.9 percent.
BT Group was the top blue-chip gainer, up 5.3 percent after Bank of America Merril Lynch upgraded the telecom group to "buy" from "neutral" and increased its target price. More than one in 10 British households may have fallen into negative equity, the Bank of England said, similar to levels seen in the mid-1990s.
The Bank of England said it is still too early to tell what the impact of the 125 billion pound asset buying spree it embarked on is having on the economy. (Reporting by Farah Master; Editing by Jon Loades-Carter)