* FTSE 100 up 0.1 percent
* Banks firm, helped by upbeat BarCap, JPMorgan comment
* Burberry gains on Saudi Alhokair joint venture
* Analysts positive on longer-term outlook for equities
By Tricia Wright
LONDON, March 28 (Reuters) - Banking stocks boosted by upbeat broker comment lifted Britain's top share index into positive territory on Monday.
By 1118 GMT, the FTSE 100 was 4.30 points, or 0.1 percent, higher at 5,905.06, on track for a four-session winning streak. It closed up 0.3 percent on Friday.
The index is almost flat on the year, with some of the gains seen in February erased by worries over the euro zone debt crisis, political turmoil in the Arab world and the aftermath of the earthquake in Japan.
Peter Dixon, an economist at Commerzbank, said that while markets have not lost sight of these events, they are starting to re-focus their attention, with "reasonably healthy" earnings numbers and favourable valuations underpinning his positive long-term view on equities.
"I think there's a general sense that markets are beginning to take the events of Japan in their stride and we will start to see a bit more of a focus on market fundamentals," he said.
"Given that we had a fairly positive view in the first place, (these fundamentals) suggest that hopefully we will start to make up a lot of the ground that we have lost in the course of the last week or two."
The UK blue chip index carries a 12-month forward price-to-earnings ratio of 9.8 times, slightly cheaper than the broader STOXX Europe 600's 10.2 times, Thomson Reuters Datastream showed, though FTSE 100 companies are expected to post an average 19.9-percent rise in earnings this year, compared with a 14.7 percent gain for STOXX Europe 600 companies.
BANKS SUPPORT
Banks added the most points to the FTSE 100 on bullish comment from Barclays Capital and JPMorgan.
Barclays Capital said it has looked at 11 of Europe's largest banks and all are trading at a discount to sum-of-their-parts valuations, calculating that around 150 billion euros are missing from their market caps, although it adds the banks usually trade at a discount.
JPMorgan reiterated its "overweight" stance on banks, "a sector which will benefit from lower cost of capital, was the worst performer in the last 6-12 months but is attractively priced and will be supported by a recovery in credit demand."
Among individual stocks, Burberry was among the top blue-chip performers, 1.9 percent ahead, after Saudi-based retailer Fawaz Abdulaziz Alhokair Co said it had agreed to set up a joint venture with the British luxury goods group to market and sell its products.
Traders were cautiously optimistic about the FTSE 100 in the short term, which may be building momentum after an advance of 3.2 percent over the course of last week, its best weekly performance since early November.
"Not suprisingly after last week's rally traders are not rushing to buy today as they take stock of the current levels," Mic Mills, head of electronic trading at ETX Capital, said.
"(While these gains have) made them more confident... they want to see these levels maintained for a while before we go charging on to higher levels," he added.
(Additional reporting by Dominic Lau and David Brett; Editing by David Cowell)