* FTSE down 0.1 percent, banks ebb on recovery fears
* Miner, energy stocks gains, buoyed by commods
* Unitied Utilities rises on outlook
By David Brett
LONDON, Sept 23 (Reuters) - Britain's top share index fell early on Thursday, as banks extended losses as investors remained jittery on worries over the economic recovery in the U.S., which has fuelled demand for commodities.
By 0824 GMT, the FTSE 100 was down 7.70 points or 0.1 percent at 5,544.21, having ended down or 0.4 percent at 5,551.91 on Wednesday, its second consecutive session of losses.
The FTSE remain up over 400 points since its late September low of 5,109.40, and 700 points since its 2010 low in July.
"Technical factors ensure equities are supported even if like Wile E. Coyote they're are peddling furiously in mid air having run of the end of a cliff," Jeremy Batstone-Carr, head of research at Charles Stanley, said.
"It is likely that we will see clearer signs of how the market is interpreting the (U.S. manufacturing) data as it comes out over the next week or so through the currency, bond and commodity markets."
Gold, base metal and crude prices extended recent gains as the prospect of extensions to quantitative easing programmes in the U.S. and the UK fuelled demand for commodities, as investors retreated from bonds and currencies.
Precious metals miners Randgold Resources and African Barrick Gold climbed 1.7 and 0.5 percent respectively.
Oil majors rallied with BP up 0.5 percent and BG Group 0.8 percent higher.
Banks, however, remained on the backfoot with Lloyds Banking Group and Standard Chartered down 1.1 and 0.8 percent respectively.
HSBC shed 0.1, as uncertainty of its leadership continued. The Financial Times said on Thursday Douglas Flint, HSBC's finance director, is likely to replace Stephen Green as chairman, citing people close to the bank's board.
Debate on the Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee is in a particularly aggressive and vigorous phase as policy makers struggle to assess the relative strength of upside and downside risks to inflation, BoE chief economist Spencer Dale said on Wednesday.
FLYING HIGH NOW
British Airways added 0.6 percent as Spain's Iberia approved the airline's funding plan for a multi-billion-pound pension deficit on Wednesday, removing the last major obstacle for the two airlines to merge before year-end.
Britain's largest listed water utility, United Utilities Plc added 1.1 percent after it said it was on track to deliver results in line with our expectations.
Other utilities firms also rose in tandem, with National Grid and Centrica up 0.8 and 0.4 percent respectively.
On the downside, Shire slipped 0.8 percent after Exane BNP Pariabs cut its rating to "neutral" from "outperform".
Peer AstraZeneca dropped 0.7 percent as Exane also cuts its rating to "underperform" from "neutral", saying it has "limited upside from R&D."
The UK market had little guidance from international markets overnight with much of Asia was closed due to public holidays in Japan, China, Hong Kong and South Korea.
And with a dearth of UK data, investors will watch a raft of European PMI numbers and U.S. existing home sales or August and weekly jobless claims.
(Editing by Hans Peters)