European blue-chip stocks ended largely higher on Friday, growing in confidence after a stronger-than-expected US nonfarm payrolls reading.
The FTSE 100 index rose 26.87 points, 0.3%, at 8,837.91. The FTSE 250 ended up 87.90 points, 0.4%, at 21,157.28, and the AIM All-Share climbed 2.42 points, 0.3%, at 756.88.
For the week, the FTSE rose 0.8%, the FTSE 250 added 0.6%, and the AIM All-Share shot up 1.4%.
In Paris, the CAC 40 rose 0.2%, while Frankfurt’s DAX 40 ended 0.1% lower.
The pound was quoted at 1.3522 US dollars late on Friday afternoon in London, lower compared to 1.3596 dollars at the equities close on Thursday. The euro stood at 1.1387 dollars, lower against 1.1456 dollars. Against the yen, the dollar jumped to 144.93 yen compared to 143.57 yen.
The US economy added more jobs than expected last month, although the pace of hiring eased, numbers on Friday showed.
According to the latest nonfarm payrolls from the Bureau of Labour Statistics, 139,000 more jobs were added to the US economy in May, topping the FXStreet-cited consensus of 130,000.
The pace of job creation abated from 147,000 in April, a figure which was downwardly revised from 177,000. March’s figure was revised down to 120,000 from 185,000. It means that in April and March combined, 95,000 fewer jobs were created than previously reported.
The unemployment rate in May was 4.2%, in line with consensus and unmoved from April. The BLS said the jobless rate has been in a narrow range of 4.0% to 4.2% over the past year.
Schroders analyst George Brown said: “While it is premature to conclude the US economy will weather the tariff turmoil, the early signs remain encouraging, with a respectable 139,000 jobs created in May. Evidently there is a risk that the hit to confidence eventually leads to a sharp retrenchment. But we view this as unlikely given Donald Trump’s first presidency demonstrated this is just part of his unconventional approach to deal-making.
“And while recent court rulings lower the risk of tariffs being raised to prohibitive rates, elevated inflation expectations will mean the Federal Reserve will be wary of falling behind the curve again. As such, our base case remains that the Fed will keep rates on hold for the rest of the year.”
The yield on the US 10-year Treasury was quoted at 4.48%, stretching from 4.39% a day prior. The yield on the US 30-year Treasury was quoted at 4.94%, widening from 4.89%.
In New York, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.8%, the S&P 500 climbed 0.9% and the Nasdaq Composite sat 1.1% higher at the time of the closing bell in London.
Tesla shares perked up 5.9%, after a 14% slump on Thursday. Nonetheless, the spat between the electric carmaker’s chief executive Elon Musk and US president Donald Trump continued.
The White House squashed speculation that Mr Trump and Mr Musk would patch up their stunning public feud, saying the US president had no plans to call his billionaire former aide on Friday.
Mr Trump lobbed fresh insults at the South African-born Mr Musk a day after the fiery implosion of their unlikely political marriage, saying the tech tycoon had “lost his mind”.
In a telling symbol of how their relationship had deteriorated, the president was even considering selling or giving away a Tesla he had bought to show support for Mr Musk amid protests against the company.
On the move in London, banking shares helped support the FTSE 100. StanChart rose 2.9%, while Barclays added 1.9%.
Defence stocks, which have enjoyed a strong week, returned some progress. BAE Systems shed 2.6%, snapping a five-day winning streak. Babcock lost 4.3%.
Elsewhere, Dr Martens extended gains, adding another 8.7% after a more than 25% jump on Thursday. The boot maker had signalled a return to growth in the year ahead and a refreshed strategy on Thursday.
Pinewood Technologies shot up 11%. The Birmingham-based provider of software to the automotive retailing sector said it has agreed to buy out a 51% stake in its joint venture, Pinewood North America, from Lithia UK for 76.5 million dollars in shares.
Lithia UK is a wholly owned subsidiary of Oregon, US-based car dealer Lithia Motors.
Pinewood said that it will enter a five-year contract with Lithia to roll out its software to all Lithia’s current and future sites across the US and Canada by the end of 2028 at the latest.
The company said it expects to generate around 40 million dollars in annual recurring revenue from Lithia in North America once its platform has been fully deployed.
The biggest risers on the FTSE 100 were Standard Chartered, up 33.50 pence at 1,186.00p, 3i Group, up 115.00p at 4,265.00p, Hiscox, up 25.00p at 1,351.00p, Barclays, up 6.15p at 333.20p, and Aviva, up 11.20p at 626.80p.
The biggest fallers on the FTSE 100 were Babcock International, down 48.00p at 1,057.00p, Anglo American, down 76.50p at 2,217p, Endeavour Mining, down 74.00p at 2,312.00p, Antofagasta, down 52.00p at 1,895.50p, and BAE Systems, down 51.50p at 1,930.50p.
Brent oil rose to 66.21 dollars a barrel late in London on Friday afternoon, from 65.51 dollars late on Thursday. Gold was quoted lower at 3,330.06 dollars an ounce against 3,364.84 dollars.
Monday’s economic calendar has a Chinese consumer price inflation reading overnight.
As the week progresses, there is UK unemployment data on Tuesday and a gross domestic product reading on Friday. Stateside, there is consumer price inflation data on Wednesday, before the producer price index on Thursday.
Next week’s UK corporate calendar has trading statements from housebuilder Bellway on Tuesday and grocer Tesco on Thursday.
