* FTSE up 0.3 pct as investors eye further stimulus packages
* Broker comment helps lift Petrofac, Weir
By David Brett
LONDON, Oct 11 (Reuters) - Britain's top shares rose on Monday as hopes that governments around the world would take steps to bolster economic recovery fuelled investor optimism.
Meanwhile, bullish broker comment helped lift Petrofac and Weir Group, while Prudential, Autonomy and BP were hit by broker downgrades.
The FTSE 100 closed up 14.79 points, or 0.3 percent, at 5,672.40. It closed 4.52 points or 0.1 percent lower on Friday at 5,657.61.
In the U.S., economists overwhelmingly expect the Federal Reserve to embark on another round of quantitative easing (QE) this year in an effort to prop up a struggling economy plagued by high unemployment, a Reuters poll found.
Late in September, economists polled by Reuters said the chances of the Bank of England extending its quantitative easing scheme are on the rise.
"Governments need to be seen to be proactive whether the threat of a double-dip recession is real or not," Jimmy Yates, head of equities at CMC Markets, said.
"Investors look to be pricing in further QE, particularly in the U.S. If that doesn't happen in November then we could see a sharp retreat from current levels."
The FTSE 100 is up almost 900 points, or 19 percent, since its 2010 closing low on July 1.
Investors were also awaiting third-quarter U.S. corporate earnings, with figures due among others this week from Intel on Tuesday and JPMorgan Chase on Wednesday.
"From the point of view of the equity market, (quantitative easing) would mean more stimulus ... and the markets might just read that as being good news for earnings or good news for growth," Mike Lenhoff, chief strategist at Brewin Dolphin, said.
BROKER TALK
Petrofac rose 2.5 percent, after the oil and gas services company won a contract worth $250 million with the government of Sharjah in the UAE.
The stock was also aided by a price target rise from Evolution Securities following a Syrian site visit.
Other broker comments were behind a number of individual equities moves, traders said.
Weir Group gained 2.4 percent after UBS upgraded its target for the engineering firm to 1,700 pence from 1,400p, while repeating its "buy" rating.
UBS also raised its target for sector peer Smiths Group, to 1,550p from 1,400p. Smiths rose 1.5 percent.
Inmarsat added 2.1 percent, recovering after falls last week when U.S. hedge fund firm Harbinger Capital Partners halved its stake in the satellite operator, and as it was upgraded from Goldman Sachs to "buy" from "neutral".
Fashion firm Burberry and hedge fund Man Group, which have been the subject of bid talk among traders recently, rose 2.2 and 2.6 percent respectively.
Cairn Energy, which agreed in August to sell a stake of 40 to 51 percent in Cairn India to Vedanta, was up 2.1 percent as its Chief Executive Bill Gammell said he is hopeful the deal will close by this year.
On the downside, Prudential shed 1.3 percent after JPMorgan Cazenove downgraded the insurer to "underweight" from "neutral".
Autonomy fell 2.3 percent as Deutsche Bank cut the software firm's rating to "hold" from "buy", while BP fell 0.8 percent as RBS cut the oil major to "hold" from "buy". (Editing by David Hulmes)