* FTSE up 0.3 percent, UK spending review due at 1130 GMT
* Miners rally, Rio expands Iron ore ops
* Energy share weak after crude slump
By David Brett
LONDON, Oct 20 (Reuters) - Britain's leading shares climbed higher on Wednesday, with strength in miners and banks outpacing weakness in energy stocks, as investors waited for the British government's spending review.
By 1041 GMT, the FTSE 100 index was up 18.28 points, or 0.3 percent, at 5,722.16, bouncing off a session low of 5,680.43 and having closed 0.7 percent lower at 5,703.89 on Tuesday.
Miners strengthened, after having sustained losses over the past three days and following a steep decline on in the previous session when China surprised markets by announcing its first interest rate rise since 2007, a move designed to rein in a booming economy.
Global miner Rio Tinto rose 1.8 percent after it approved a $3.1 billion iron ore expansion to meet booming demand from Asia, staking a claim to become the world's top producer and defying industry concerns over a new Australian mining tax.
Banks turned around early losses in choppy trade as investors took positions ahead of further earnings news from the United States.
Barclays rose 1.0 percent and Lloyds Banking Group added 0.8 percent, with results from Morgan Stanley set for 1130 GMT.
The banks have been helped by forecast-beating earnings from BofA Merrill Lynch and Goldman Sachs on Tuesday, which backed up Citigroup's numbers from Monday.
U.S. stock index futures pointed to a slight rebound on Wall Street on Wednesday, ahead of Morgan Stanley's results.
The Bank of England's (BoE) Monetary Policy Committee split three ways in October, according to meeting minutes released on Wednesday. One committee member called for a resumption of stimulus, another repeated his call for a rate hike and the remaining seven voted for no change.
"The split had been expected and the detailed minutes suggests the BoE is leaning toward greater monetary easing methods as opposed to tightening, which should boost demand for equities," Jimmy Yates, head of equities at CMC Markets, said.
Elsewhere, Smith & Nephew gained 4.1 percent, the top FTSE 100 riser, with traders citing a positive read-across from results on Tuesday from the orthopaedic products firm's U.S peers Stryker Corp and Johnson & Johnson.
ENERGY DRAIN
Energy stocks were the biggest drag on the index after crude oil fell over 4 percent in the previous session, following the interest rate rise in China.
Oil majors BG Group and BP shed 1.3 and 0.2 percent, respectively.
In the UK, investors will closely watch developments from parliament, where the coalition government will unveil its much-anticipated spending review, due at 1130 GMT, which aims to cut public spending by 83 billion pounds by 2015.
Most government departments face cuts of about 25 percent over four years.
Outsourcing company Serco Plc, which relies heavily on revenue from the UK government, dropped 1.8 percent.
Ex-dividend factors took off 1.86 points, with Smiths Group , BSkyB and BAE Systems all losing their payout attractions.
Smiths and BAE Systems have been hurt by the defence cuts announced by the UK government on Tuesday.
ARM Holdings was 1.8 percent lower, extending the previous session's losses after Apple, which uses ARM chips, disappointed investors late on Monday with weaker-than-expected gross margins and iPad shipments. (Editing by Karen Foster)