LONDON, June 11 (Reuters) - Britain's top shares index edged higher early on Wednesday, snapping a three-day losing run, as robust crude prices lifted oil stocks, though Royal Bank of Scotland fell after a trading update.
By 0807 GMT, the FTSE 100 <.FTSE> was up 5.8 points, or 0.1 percent at 5,833.0, after losing 0.9 percent on Tuesday to hit its lowest closing level since late March.
"We will have a good day or two, but I still think we will see lower prices eventually...because the trend is down," Tom Hougaard, chief market strategist at City Index Markets, said.
"After we have been going up for five years, I suspect we will be going down for a year and a half."
Oil shares rebounded after recent losses as crude prices traded above $132 a barrel, erasing some of the two previous sessions' $7 losses.
Heavyweights BP and Royal Dutch Shell advanced 1.8 and 1.2 percent respectively.
Royal Bank of Scotland shed 2.2 percent despite saying its performance this year is in line with previous guidance but results are being held back by the impact of the global credit crunch.
RBS also said writedowns on credit market exposures are expected to remain within the estimates indicated by the bank of April 22.
Barclays fell 1.3 percent and Alliance & Leicester slipped 0.7 percent, but HBOS and HBSC gained.
A rating upgrade to "buy" from UBS also boosted HBOS, traders said.
Miners were mixed despite firmer metal prices and a report from the Sydney Morning Herald saying China's Baosteel <600019.SS>, Wugang and Angang <0347.HK> <000898.SZ> hoped to come together to invest in BHP Billiton .
BHP Chief Executive Marius Kloppers said it would not be a surprise if a Chinese entity took a stake in the mining group, given the country's need for resources and its big reserves of capital. [ID:nSYD206676]
BHP ticked up 0.1 percent, Antofagasta was up 0.7 percent, Xstrata 0.6 percent and Kazakhmys 1 percent. But Rio Tinto and Anglo American were down.
UK employment figures and trade data, both due at 0830 GMT, will provide a further gauge on the strength of the British economy.
The National Institute of Economic and Social Research said British GDP growth is estimated to have fallen to 0.2 percent in the three months ending in May, from 0.4 percent in the three months to April.
Housebuilders remained under pressure, extending Tuesday's sharp falls on concerns of slowing growth and possibly higher interest rates. Persimmon , Taylor Wimpey , Barratt Developments , Redrow and Bovis Homes slumped 4.6 to 11 percent.
