DTY.L Share News (DTY)

* FTSE 100 down 0.1 pct

* Prudential jumps after insurer announces demerger

* Morrison's shares reverse course after results(Adds comments, context)

By Kit Rees and Julien Ponthus

LONDON, March 14 (Reuters) - British shares gave up earlygains and finished in negative territory on Wednesday as pointsgained by Prudential and mining stocks were overturned bysimmering fears of a global trade war that pushed Wall Streetinto the red.

The blue chip FTSE 100 index closed down 0.09percent at 7,132.69 points, slightly above the pan-EuropeanSTOXX 600, down 0.15 percent while the Dow JonesIndustrial Average was losing about 1 percent at the sametime.

"The positive mood in Europe has waned after U.S. marketsturned lower," David Madden from CMC Markets said.

The showdown between Britain and the Kremlin about how aSoviet-era nerve toxin was used to attack a Russian ex-spy hadlittle impact on British shares.

Insurer Prudential was the top gainer, its sharesrising 5.1 percent after it said it would demerge its UK andEurope retirement and asset management business from itsinternational insurance business.

It said it planned to demerge M&G Prudential into a separatecompany with a premium listing on the London Stock Exchange.

"A demerger driven by geography is one which makescommercial and strategic sense," Richard Hunter, head of marketsat Interactive Investor, said.

Mining stocks provided a big boost to the FTSE, thanks tosome solid industrial production data from China, which pushedmetals prices higher given that China is the biggest consumer ofmetals in the world.

Shares in Glencore were up 1.8 percent, AngloAmerican added 3.3 percent and Antofagasta rose3.4 percent.

Results were also in focus. Despite an early rise, shares inMorrison's gave up gains and posted the worstperformance of the index, down 4.8 percent after the supermarketgave a full-year update amid a tough environment for foodretailers due to competition in pricing and online.

While Morrison's beat forecasts and announced a specialdividend, analysts voiced concerns over the sustainability ofthe grocer's growth, while others were disappointed that thedividend was a one-off.

"The market has not been buying into the group's recent runof form," Neil Wilson, senior market analyst at ETX Capital,said.

"There is a sense that this kind of growth will be difficultto maintain, but this has been the argument for some time andhas continually been wrong," Wilson added.

Outside of the blue chips, shares in funeral servicesprovider Dignity surged more than 15 percent, puttingthe stock on track for its biggest one-day gain since listing in2004 after reporting full-year results.

Dignity's shares are still down more than 45 percent thisyear on the back of concerns around a price war.

(Reporting by Kit ReesEditing by Alison Williams)