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Britain’s top share index bounced back in morning trading on Friday, led higher by financial stocks, with investors betting that US jobs data will show signs of strength in the world’s biggest economy.
US non-farm payrolls probably rose 230,000 jobs last month after rising by 214,000 in October, according to a Reuters survey. November would mark the 10th straight month that job growth has exceeded 200,000, the longest such stretch since 1994.
“The Fed has successfully ended its bond purchase programme and we expect a rate hike in the middle of the next year. Until then, the Fed is not likely to change its policy. Therefore, I expect that a good labour market report today would have a positive impact on the market,’’ UniCredit strategist Christian Stocker said.
The blue-chip FTSE 100 was up 0.7 per cent at 6,728.72 points by 0921 GMT, after closing 0.6 per cent lower in the previous session following a drop in commodity stocks and disappointment at a lack of concrete, new economic stimulus measures from the European Central Bank.
Banking stocks were the top gainers, with the UK banking index rising 1.1 per cent, helped by a 1.1 to 1.7 per cent rise in the shares of Barclays, HSBC and Royal Bank Scotland.
British testing company Intertek Group rose 4 per cent, top gainer in the FTSE 100 index, supported by broker upgrades. Deutsche Bank raised its stance for the stock to “buy’’ from “hold’’, while UBS raises its rating for the company to “buy’’ from “neutral’’.
Mid-cap Berkeley rose 5.9 per cent after London-focused housebuilder said its half-year pre-tax profit rose by 80 per cent to £305 million due to strong demand in the capital, with the firm expecting to meet full-year market expectations.
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