London stocks closed in the green on Friday, helped along by a weaker pound, as investors digested a slightly better-than-expected US non-farm payrolls report.
The FTSE 100 ended the session up 0.33% at 7,303.96, and the FTSE 250 was 0.54% firmer at 23,596.79.
Sterling was in a mixed state, last trading 0.04% stronger on the dollar at $1.3506, while weakening 0.05% against the euro to €1.1678.
“European markets have continued their buoyant tone from yesterday, with the German DAX posting yet another record high, along with the Stoxx 600, while the FTSE 100 has also finished the week posting a fresh 20-month peak,” said CMC Markets chief market analyst Michael Hewson.
“Today’s news out of the US that Pfizer has developed a Covid-19 pill, which is 89% effective in preventing hospitalisation, may well be weighing on the AstraZeneca share price a touch, but it has pretty much turbocharged the airlines and hospitality sector.”
Stateside, jobs growth and unemployment numbers came in somewhat better than anticipated for October, being served up along with big revisions to previous data earlier in the afternoon.
According to the Department of Labor, non-farm payrolls jumped by 531,000 last month, besting forecasts for an increase of 425,000.
Non-farm payrolls for the prior two months were revised higher by a combined 235,000 people and average hourly earnings improved at a month-on-month pace of 0.4%, with the latter being as expected.
Analysts at Barclays Research said the October numbers showed that the jobs market was emerging from its soft patch.
“In our view, the October numbers confirm that the US economy has turned the corner after this summer’s soft patch, with diminishing infection risks from the Delta variant providing renewed momentum to service sector activity,” they said.
Barclays also noted how the only soft spot in the payrolls numbers was in government employment, where the bulk of the drop was accounted for by the fall in education employment by state and local governments.
That, it said, had been “complicated of late by seasonal adjustment difficulties related to the pandemic”.
On home shorts, the latest numbers from Halifax showed the average UK house price topping £270,000 for the first time in October, although there were signs of cooling demand.
House prices rose 0.9% on the month following a 1.7% increase in September, and on the year, the average cost of a place to live was 8.1% higher in October, up from 7.4% growth the month before.
The average property now costs a record £270,027, with Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland continuing to outperform the UK average.
“One of the key drivers of activity in the housing market over the past 18 months has been the race for space, with buyers seeking larger properties, often further from urban centres,” said Russell Galley, managing director at Halifax.
“Combined with temporary measures such as the cut to Stamp Duty, this has helped push the average property price up to an all-time high of £270,027.”
Finally, the decline in footfall at shops eased in October, giving retailers a boost ahead of the crucial Christmas shopping season.
According to data released by the British Retail Consortium in conjunction with Sensormatic IQ, total UK footfall decreased 13.7% in October compared to the same month in 2019.
A 3.2 percentage point improvement on September, footfall was now above the three-month average decline of 16.0%.
Within that, footfall on high streets declined by 18.3% year-on-two-years, 4.3 percentage points above September’s rate.
Footfall decreased by 0.4% on the same basis at retail parks, and by 33.6% in shopping centres, respectively 1.2 percentage points and 2.6 percentage points above September’s rate.
“It was great to see the UK leading the way for footfall in October,” said Helen Dickinson, chief executive of the BRC.
“This gives more retailers a reason to be hopeful as we enter the crucial golden quarter, with many embracing both digital and physical connections with their customers, and indicates that retail is playing a key part in the economic recovery.”
In equity markets, engine maker Rolls-Royce jumped 5.82%, with other travel-related stocks also on the rise, as IAG ascended 6.11%, InterContinental Hotels added 2.34%, travel caterer SSP leapt 9.96%, tour operator TUI gained 6.25%, cruise company Carnival gained 9.42%, and Wizz Air closing 2.44% higher.
Traders said the sector got a boost after Pfizer announced that its new antiviral Covid pill cut the risk of hospitalisation or death by 89%.
British Airways owner IAG was also in focus after saying it narrowed third-quarter losses as more people started to travel with the lifting of Covid restrictions.
The company posted an operating loss of €452m, narrowing from a loss of €1.92bn last year when passenger travel came to a virtual standstill.
Banks were on the front foot, having fallen a day earlier after the BoE rate announcement.
NatWest rose 2.12%, Standard Chartered gained 2.48%, Barclays was ahead 0.46%, and Lloyds was up 1.77%.
Standard Chartered also benefited from an upgrade to ‘buy’ from ‘neutral’ at UBS.
Telecommunications group Airtel Africa surged 11.19% after saying that its subsidiary, Smartcash, had been given approval in principle to operate a payment service bank business in Nigeria.
Morgan Advanced Materials rallied 8.31% after it said full-year organic constant currency growth was set to be around the top end of its previous guidance range of 7% to 9%.
Beazley rose 5,38% after the insurer reported higher-than-expected gross written premiums, driven by cyber and executive risk and its specialty lines divisions, as it set aside $125m in natural disasters claims, including Hurricane Ida and the European floods.
Market Movers
FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,303.96 0.33%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 23,596.79 0.54%
techMARK (TASX) 4,652.84 0.27%
FTSE 100 – Risers
International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 180.16p 6.11%
Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 142.94p 5.82%
Informa (INF) 548.40p 5.66%
Melrose Industries (MRO) 167.55p 4.33%
ITV (ITV) 112.05p 3.41%
Compass Group (CPG) 1,603.50p 3.32%
Smith & Nephew (SN.) 1,369.00p 3.28%
Associated British Foods (ABF) 1,895.50p 2.63%
Standard Chartered (STAN) 458.50p 2.48%
InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) 5,336.00p 2.34%
FTSE 100 – Fallers
Darktrace (DARK) 577.50p -3.59%
Kingfisher (KGF) 332.50p -2.83%
Croda International (CRDA) 9,394.00p -2.83%
Ocado Group (OCDO) 1,725.50p -2.68%
Severn Trent (SVT) 2,771.00p -1.84%
Ashtead Group (AHT) 6,258.00p -1.76%
Hikma Pharmaceuticals (HIK) 2,391.00p -1.69%
Halma (HLMA) 2,990.00p -1.64%
Royal Mail (RMG) 439.80p -1.61%
Bunzl (BNZL) 2,729.00p -1.59%
FTSE 250 – Risers
Airtel Africa (AAF) 120.90p 10.92%
Carnival (CCL) 1,696.00p 9.42%
SSP Group (SSPG) 277.60p 8.82%
Morgan Advanced Materials (MGAM) 364.00p 8.01%
WH Smith (SMWH) 1,666.50p 7.00%
Trainline (TRN) 323.00p 6.53%
TUI AG Reg Shs (DI) (TUI) 249.90p 6.25%
easyJet (EZJ) 657.20p 6.03%
Hammerson (HMSO) 34.02p 5.75%
Beazley (BEZ) 417.30p 5.38%
FTSE 250 – Fallers
Baltic Classifieds Group (BCG) 205.00p -5.96%
4Imprint Group (FOUR) 2,925.00p -3.94%
Oxford Biomedica (OXB) 1,532.00p -3.77%
Clarkson (CKN) 4,030.00p -3.59%
Drax Group (DRX) 541.50p -3.39%
Draper Esprit (GROW) 1,010.00p -3.07%
Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings (AML) 1,741.50p -2.82%
PureTech Health (PRTC) 355.50p -2.60%
Genuit Group (GEN) 654.00p -2.53%
Genus (GNS) 5,485.00p -2.49%
