* FTSE down 0.3 percent
* Banks wane on downbeat IMF comment
By David Brett
LONDON, Jan 14 (Reuters) - Miners pulled Britain's leading share index lower on Friday, with sentiment hit by talk of a rate hike in China, while banks were weighed by downbeat comments over the euro zone from the IMF.
Chip designer ARM hit a 10-year high after U.S. peer Intel reported upbeat results overnight.
By 0900 GMT, the FTSE 100 was down 20.13 points, or 0.3 percent, at 6,003.75, having closed 0.4 percent lower on Thursday than Wednesday's 31-month closing high.
Miners were a drag on London's blue-chip index, falling along with base metal prices, as the sector continued its choppy start to 2011, with investors confidence dented on talk of a potential rate hike in China.
"It is a Friday and that means there is talk China may raise rates, possibly by 50 basis points and the Reserve Ratio by 100 basis points, and potentially this weekend, and that could dampen demand appetite," Jimmy Yates, head of Equities at CMC Markets, said.
London-listed Mexican precious metals miner Fresnillo bucked the sector trend, rising 1.7 percent after posting record annual output figures.
Banks, having gained 7.5 percent earlier this week, fared little better as investors took profits. Traders also cited comments by Naoyuki Shinohara, deputy managing director of the International Monetary Fund on the euro zone's debt problems.
"IMF's Shinohara says that recent efforts from European authorities to soothe investor scepticism about the debt crisis have been ineffectual," Jonathan Sudaria, a trader at Capital Spreads, said.
"Most traders would probably agree with Shinohara. Whilst this week's auctions have been relatively successful, the bond buying by the ECB has been seen as a short term 'time buying' measure and not the conclusive solution require."
ARM HITS HIGHS
British chip designer ARM, which recently announced a tie-up with Microsoft and has been the subject of persistant M&A talk, hit a 10-year high, rising 9.2 percent following U.S. peer Intel's fourth-quarter results overnight.
Intel, the world's largest chipmaker, posted better than expected revenues and gave a rosy outlook for early 2011.
Elsehwere, artificial hip and knee maker Smith & Nephew (S&N) rose 4.4 percent after the Daily Telegraph newspaper reported privately owned U.S. orthopaedics group Biomet was set to begin informal talks about a potential 15 billion pound ($23.6 billion) merger.
Back on the downside, BP shed 0.6 percent. Alaska's main oil pipeline, in which BP is a mjor stakeholder, will shut from Friday evening to install a bypass aimed at restoring oil shipments to full volumes after the line was shut following a leak last week.
December PPI figures were scheduled for 0930 GMT. (Editing by Dan Lalor)