London close: Footsie continues record run despite soft US jobs data
London stocks extended their recent record run on Friday, with the top-flight index hitting fresh highs as investors brushed off a slightly weaker than expected reading on US non-farm payrolls for December.
The 100 ended up by 0.37% or 28.34 points to 7,724.22, having earlier hit a fresh high of 7,727.73, while the pound was flat against the dollar at 1.3552 but climbing 0.30% versus the euro to 1.1264.
On Thursday, the Dow Jones Industrials breached the 25,000 level and the S&P 500 and Nasdaq also racked up strong gains, while the FTSE 100 closed at 7,695.88, having reached a new intraday peak just above 7,700.
The US Bureau of Labor Statistics pegged non-farm payroll growth at 148,000 for December (consensus: 175,000) and said the unemployment rate was unchanged from the month before at 4.1%, with the latter defying forecasts for a dip to 4.1%.
Nonetheless, economists shrugged of those readings, with several reiterating their forecast for the US central bank to tighten rates as many as four times over the course of 2018.
Commenting on the data, Michael Gapen at Barclays Research said: "With a flat participation rate, the economy only needs to generate 75k per month to keep the unemployment rate steady. On the heels of fiscal stimulus that should keep economic activity above trend, we expect the unemployment rate to drift lower and put pressure on the Fed to continue to normalize at a steady pace. We look for four 25bp rate hikes this year with the next increase coming in March."
Meanwhile, the latest figures from the UK showed high street sales last month were lower than the previous year, with clothing and footwear suffering the most. Like-for-like sales at UK shops fell 2.3% in December, the BDO High Street Sales Tracker revealed on Friday, despite a last-minute shopping surge in the week leading up to Christmas. This was the fifth successive December to record negative sales growth.
In corporate news, budget airline EasyJet flew higher as it reported a 5.5% year-on-year increase in passengers for December to 5.88m. The load factor was up to 91.4% from 89.9%.
Shipping broker Clarkson edged up after saying it expects full year results for 2017 to be in line with current views. In a brutally short statement, the FTSE 250 group confirmed results for the calendar year will be released on 12 March 2018.
In an otherwise quiet session, broker notes provided some much needed action. Centrica and United Utilities were boosted by upgrades from Credit Suisse, while Anglo American was higher after an upgrade at Jefferies.
Bookie William Hill was in the black following an upgrade to 'buy' at Canaccord.
On the downside, Ultra Electronics slumped following a report of a delay to the UK defence review and as Berenberg reiterated its 'sell' rating on the stock following a 20% rally.
Insurer Admiral was hit by a downgrade to 'underweight' at JPMorgan, while recruiter Pagegroup retreated following a downgrade by Morgan Stanley and Vectura was knocked by a downgrade from Shore Capital. Admiral was also likely to be taking a hit from news that UK car sales fell for the first time in six years last year.
Market Movers
FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,724.22 0.37%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 20,932.56 0.54%
techMARK (TASX) 3,580.89 0.51%
FTSE 100 - Risers
Centrica (CNA) 146.15p 3.07%
United Utilities Group (UU.) 817.80p 2.25%
Next (NXT) 4,854.00p 2.23%
Smith & Nephew (SN.) 1,285.50p 2.23%
Reckitt Benckiser Group (RB.) 6,841.00p 2.21%
Halma (HLMA) 1,290.00p 1.90%
NMC Health (NMC) 3,126.00p 1.88%
SSE (SSE) 1,324.00p 1.85%
Burberry Group (BRBY) 1,782.50p 1.65%
GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) 1,361.00p 1.60%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
Admiral Group (ADM) 1,868.50p -2.93%
Barclays (BARC) 199.18p -2.60%
Mediclinic International (MDC) 626.00p -1.01%
Tesco (TSCO) 209.70p -0.71%
Rio Tinto (RIO) 3,959.50p -0.68%
Glencore (GLEN) 388.60p -0.61%
Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 276.30p -0.61%
Kingfisher (KGF) 339.60p -0.56%
Mondi (MNDI) 1,926.50p -0.52%
Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) 241.00p -0.45%
FTSE 250 - Risers
Inmarsat (ISAT) 492.40p 4.97%
Renewi (RWI) 105.80p 3.90%
RHI Magnesita N.V. (DI) (RHIM) 4,069.00p 3.62%
Coats Group (COA) 89.80p 3.45%
Crest Nicholson Holdings (CRST) 563.50p 2.92%
William Hill (WMH) 329.30p 2.78%
BGEO Group (BGEO) 3,644.00p 2.71%
ZPG Plc (ZPG) 344.00p 2.69%
Workspace Group (WKP) 1,013.00p 2.69%
Hays (HAS) 185.50p 2.54%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
Ultra Electronics Holdings (ULE) 1,294.00p -6.91%
TBC Bank Group (TBCG) 1,654.00p -3.16%
Cobham (COB) 123.25p -2.84%
Sanne Group (SNN) 781.00p -2.25%
Vectura Group (VEC) 117.90p -1.91%
CYBG (CYBG) 326.40p -1.69%
QinetiQ Group (QQ.) 231.40p -1.62%
Sirius Minerals (SXX) 24.12p -1.55%
Grafton Group Units (GFTU) 805.00p -1.47%
Euromoney Institutional Investor (ERM) 1,260.00p -1.41%