London close: FTSE ends on high note after payrolls beat expectations

8th Nov 2013 16:37

- FTSE ends day 11 points higher- US payrolls come in above expectations- IAG leads gainstechMARK 2,640.30 -0.10%FTSE 100 6,708.42 +0.17%FTSE 250 15,342.03 -0.31%After spending much of the day in the red, the FTSE 100 ultimately ended the final session of the week on a much more positive note, up 11 points. The lift was provided by an unexpected jump in US payrolls for the month of October, which totalled 204,000, significantly higher than expectations of 120,000. The September figure was revised to 163,000. The unemployment rate rose to 7.3% from 7.2%, as forecast. The news suggested that the US economy would be able to withstand the shutdown better than expected. However, the figures are likely to also reaffirm views that the Fed will start tapering asset purchases. "The much bigger than expected 204,000 gain in September's non-farm payrolls, combined with a 60,000 upward revision to the gains in the two preceding months, will mostly definitely shift expectations of when the Fed will begin to taper its asset purchases," according to Capital Economics."Together with the news yesterday of a stronger 2.8% gain in third-quarter GDP growth, the Fed now has the data to justify making its first reduction at December's FOMC meeting, but whether it will or not is still unclear. Frankly, given all the flip-flopping, it's hard to know exactly what evidence would satisfy the majority of Fed officials."Events in the UKBack on this side of the Atlantic, UK construction output fell unexpectedly in September by 0.9% when compared to a month earlier, when it rose 0.1%, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), missing economists' estimates for an increase of 1.5%.The ONS also announced that the UK's trade deficit in goods and services came in at £3.3bn for September, in line with the previous month. There was a deficit of £9.8bn on goods (up from -£9.6bn in September), which was partly offset by an estimated surplus of £6.5bn on services (up from £6.3bn in the month before).The overall trade in goods balance with the EU reached a record of £6bn. Over on the mainland... Limiting gains was Standard and Poor's downgrade of France's credit rating to AA from AA+ due to high unemployment hampering the country's economic growth.A separate report in France showed industrial production declined by 0.5% month-on-month in September, slightly below consensus for a rise of 0.1%, as an increase in manufacturing offset robust output in the energy sector.In Germany, the trade surplus widened more than estimated in September to €20.4bn from a revised €13.3bn in August, the Federal Statistics Office in Wiesbaden said today. Economists predicted an increase to €15.4bn.IAG soars strong Q3International Consolidated Airlines Group (IAG) charged higher after it delivered a "strong" set of third quarter results which showed British Airways' performance had taken off aided by the bounce back from the Olympics effect last year. The airlines group reported three month pre-tax profit had soared to €609m from €237m last time after revenues rose 6.9% to €5.4bn and costs fell 1.5%. Third quarter passenger unit revenue was up 6.7%.Rolls-Royce shares also jumped after it said it expects the full year to achieve modest growth in underlying revenue and underlying profit with cash flow around breakeven, according to a trading update out this morning. However, the engine manufacturer has changed its underlying profit guidance in its Defence Aerospace business from broadly flat to modest growth and in Marine from modest growth to broadly flat.Meanwhile, Schroders extended yesterday's losses as investors continued to cash in on strong gains seen in the share price over the past year (around 65%). The group yesterday reported a sharp rise in third quarter profits helped by its recent acquisition of Cazenove Capital. The fund manager said pre-tax profits rose to £106.2m in the three months to the end of September from £88.6m in the same period last year on the back of revenues which rose to £366m from £276.5m. Aberdeen Asset Management was also in the red on reports it faces competition for its potential purchase of Scottish Widows Investment Partnership (SWIP). According to the Wall Street Journal, Macquarie Group is planning to put in a £500m bid for SWIP. Aberdeen last month said it was in discussions with Lloyds about a possible purchase. FTSE 100 - RisersInternational Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 376.90p +7.99%Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 1,210.00p +3.42%Persimmon (PSN) 1,197.00p +2.13%easyJet (EZJ) 1,225.00p +2.08%Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 75.16p +1.75%Meggitt (MGGT) 516.00p +1.67%Bunzl (BNZL) 1,414.00p +1.65%Tate & Lyle (TATE) 804.00p +1.64%Imperial Tobacco Group (IMT) 2,374.00p +1.45%Standard Chartered (STAN) 1,483.50p +1.37%FTSE 100 - FallersAberdeen Asset Management (ADN) 422.20p -4.57%Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 4,735.00p -3.07%ARM Holdings (ARM) 941.00p -2.39%William Hill (WMH) 385.40p -2.28%Vedanta Resources (VED) 1,036.00p -2.26%Schroders (SDR) 2,438.00p -2.13%IMI (IMI) 1,505.00p -2.08%Croda International (CRDA) 2,275.00p -1.81%Tullow Oil (TLW) 901.00p -1.80%Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) 500.00p -1.67%FTSE 250 - RisersDairy Crest Group (DCG) 537.50p +3.56%Redrow (RDW) 275.40p +3.42%IP Group (IPO) 155.30p +2.85%Balfour Beatty (BBY) 282.30p +2.54%Barratt Developments (BDEV) 321.40p +2.52%Entertainment One Limited (ETO) 247.00p +2.49%Thomas Cook Group (TCG) 145.80p +2.39%Rentokil Initial (RTO) 107.20p +2.39%Bovis Homes Group (BVS) 780.00p +2.36%Homeserve (HSV) 238.90p +2.27%FTSE 250 - FallersDialight (DIA) 950.00p -6.68%Alent (ALNT) 312.90p -5.18%ITE Group (ITE) 295.80p -4.46%African Barrick Gold (ABG) 199.30p -3.91%CSR (CSR) 499.90p -3.87%Countrywide (CWD) 534.00p -3.44%Tullett Prebon (TLPR) 307.40p -3.33%Polymetal International (POLY) 567.50p -3.32%Ferrexpo (FXPO) 193.00p -3.02%Brewin Dolphin Holdings (BRW) 266.40p -2.95%FTSE TechMARK - RisersMicrogen (MCGN) 126.00p +3.70%Phoenix IT Group (PNX) 144.75p +3.39%NCC Group (NCC) 169.75p +2.88%Vectura Group (VEC) 108.75p +1.64%Skyepharma (SKP) 109.50p +1.39%Gresham Computing (GHT) 135.00p +1.12%E2V Technologies (E2V) 158.00p +0.96%Innovation Group (TIG) 31.75p +0.79%FTSE TechMARK - FallersTorotrak (TRK) 26.50p -6.19%Wolfson Microelectronics (WLF) 141.25p -3.25%Kofax (KFX) 366.00p -2.40%Optos (OPTS) 155.25p -2.36%Vislink (VLK) 51.25p -1.68%Ark Therapeutics Group (AKT) 0.32p -1.56%Ricardo (RCDO) 606.50p -1.38%Promethean World (PRW) 19.50p -1.27%Anite (AIE) 89.00p -1.11%Oxford Biomedica (OXB) 2.67p -0.93%NR