* FTSE 100 off 0.4 percent
* Oils, miners retreat after Friday's gains
* Inmarsat falls on Harbinger stake worry
* Investors await Friday's U.S. September jobs report
By Tricia Wright
LONDON, Oct 4 (Reuters) - Britain's top share index fell on Monday, hurt by weaker oils and miners, in cautious trade as investors looked to this week's U.S. jobs report for clues on the health of the world's top economy.
By 1113 GMT, the FTSE 100 was 19.79 points, or 0.4 percent, lower at 5,573.11, after closing up 44.28 points, or 0.8 percent, at 5,592.90 on Friday.
Energy stocks and miners handed back some of the previous session's strong gains.
Inmarsat shed 2.9 percent, topping the blue-chip fallers' list, following a media report that U.S. hedge fund Harbinger Capital is planning to sell a 10 percent stake in the British satellites operator.
Harbinger noted the press speculation, but said on Monday that no decision had yet been taken.
Strategists said the market should receive fresh direction from up and coming events.
This week "there's the (U.S.) non-farm payrolls data, there are the (Bank of England and ECB announcements), and then there are earnings coming out and relating to a period in which there was a loss of recovery momentum," Mike Lenhoff, chief strategist at Brewin Dolphin, said.
Alcoa kicks off the third-quarter U.S. earnings season on Oct. 7, while on the domestic front, trading updates from retailers Tesco, J Sainsbury, and Marks & Spencer will feature later in the week.
BANKS MIXED
It was a mixed picture among the banks. Royal Bank of Scotland shed 0.2 percent. The part-state owned bank has emerged as the bank with the most to lose in the event that economic laggard Ireland cannot repay its debts, the Daily Mail said.
Many British banks may need another state bailout next year and their borrowing requirements could hit 25 billion pounds a month, the New Economics Foundation thinktank said.
Sticking with financials, Aviva climbed 1.1 percent. A four-strong group of insurers, including RSA and Resolution, discussed mounting a multibillion pound break-up bid for Aviva but the talks fizzled out as Resolution could not reach a valuation it was happy with, The Times said.
On the upside, Wolseley put on 2.2 percent, topping the blue-chip leader board, as Credit Suisse started coverage on the building supplies firm with an "outperform" rating and a 1,855 pence price target, offering 17 percent potential upside from Friday's closing share price.
On the second tier, Premier Foods was the biggest gainer, adding 10.9 percent, after Britain's biggest food producer said on Sunday it received approaches that could lead to the sale of its meat-free business, including the Quorn brand.
On the economics front, activity in Britain's construction sector picked up in September, but firms' confidence about the future fell to an 18-month low on worries about government spending cuts, a survey of purchasing managers showed.
U.S. stock index futures,, pointed to a lower open on Wall Street on Monday, ahead of U.S. August factory goods, durable goods revisions and pending home sales data, all due at 1400 GMT. Investors' main focus, however, will be on Friday's U.S. September jobs report. (Editing by Louise Heavens)