* FTSE sheds 0.8 percent
* Miners, oils, banks under pressure
* Defensive pharmaceutical stocks find favour
By Tricia Wright
LONDON, Sept 21 (Reuters) - Britain's top share index was lower early on Monday, with strength from defensive pharmaceutical stocks countered by falls in miners and banks.
At 0817 GMT, the FTSE 100 was 39.57 points, or 0.8 percent lower at 5,133.32, after closing 8.94 points firmer on Friday at a 12-month closing high, having also reached a new 2009 intraday peak of 5,183.88.
The FTSE 100 has gained around 21 percent so far this quarter and is on track to post its best quarterly percentage gains since the index was launched in 1984, but it is still down over 5 percent from a year ago, just before the collapse of Lehman Brothers.
"It's looking fairly directionless at the moment ... not a great lead from Wall Street on Friday either - it does rather seem one of those 'treading water days' at the moment in the absence of any big corporate or economic news," said Richard Hunter, head of UK equities at Hargreaves Lansdown.
Banks were among the FTSE 100's worst performers, led lower by Royal Bank of Scotland, down 2.3 percent.
RBS is talking to investors to gauge support for a 'modest' equity placement of 3 billion to 4 billion pounds ($4.91-6.54 billion), a source familiar with the situation said on Sunday, with the share issue to be used to replace a small portion of the government's economic interest in the bank.
"I'm not totally convinced the RBS speculation at the moment is necessarily positive news -- another potential rights issue on the back of ... the ones they've had in the past," Hunter said.
Lloyds Banking Group, Barclays, HSBC and Standard Chartered fell 0.4 to 1.5 percent.
Miners were broadly weaker, though with strength seen for some in the sector after broker upgrades.
BHP Billiton fell 1.7 percent. The mining giant plans to use part of a cash surplus of around $18 billion to fund a round of acquisitions, possibly involving some large rivals, The Wall Street Journal reported.
Kazakhmys was the second-biggest blue-chip faller, off 2 percent, after Citigroup cut its rating on the stock to "hold", while a Goldman Sachs downgrade to "neutral" weighed on Vedanta Resources, which shed 1.6 percent.
Antofagasta, however, was a top riser, up 1.5 percent as Goldman Sachs hiked its rating on the stock to "buy", while Eurasian Natural Resources, up 0.5 percent, was buoyed by a Citigroup upgrade to "buy".
Energy stocks fell as crude slipped below $72 a barrel in thin trading on Monday, pressured by comments from Asia's No. 1 refiner Sinopec that diesel demand from China had not completely recovered.
BG dropped 2.5 percent and BP slipped 0.1 percent, while Tullow Oil was 3.2 percent weaker, having put in a strong run last week on oil find news.
Royal Dutch Shell managed to gain 0.2 percent, supported by a Banc of America-Merrill Lynch upgrade to "buy".
Cable & Wireless dropped 1.6 percent as ING cut its rating to "hold" from "buy" after reducing its estimates and target price for the telecoms carrier.
DRUGS IN FAVOUR
Drugmakers found favour as investors sought safety in the defensive sector.
Shire added 1.3 percent, while GlaxoSmithKline and AstraZeneca climbed 0.7 percent and 0.4 percent, respectively.
The financial crisis has helped to rebalance the global economy but more structural changes are needed to prevent imbalances from returning once the recovery is underway, the Bank of England said on Monday.
Meanwhile, asking prices for homes in England and Wales are on average 1.5 percent lower this month than a year ago, with the available stock at its lowest for 18 months, property website Rightmove said on Monday. (Editing by Rupert Winchester)