The FTSE 100 posted another strong performance this week, cementing the gains it made during the previous week to stay well above the 5,700 mark. The gains, however, were limited to just 0.5% since Monday as investors were cautious ahead of the key employment data that is due out in the US on Friday. Markets in London are closed today due to the Good Friday holiday and will be shut down on Monday.
Investors had to digest some mixed economic data on Monday as a US consumer spending update was positive, showing an increase of 0.3% in February, which, however, signalled a slowdown in growth rate after the previous month marked a 0.4% rise. Consumer spending was shown to be unchanged.
Tuesday’s data also turned out to be mixed. Nationwide reported a 0.7% increase in UK house prices for the month of February, however the growth amounted to an annualised 9%, which was lower than the 9.2% rate in January. The UK Q4 GDP update turned out to be positive, showing an upward revision to 0.4%.
Markets remained flat on Wednesday, feeling pressure from more bearish US data including a Chicago PMI (Purchasing Managers Index) update, which revealed a decline from 62.6 to 58.8 in March. This followed ADP’s report of a decline in private employment with 23,000 jobs lost in March instead of an expected increase. Finally, the New York ISM index slid from 78.1 to 60.6 in March. The negative news was partly offset by US factory orders, which increased 0.6% in February to signal a sixth straight month of gains.
The FTSE 100 posted its best performance of the shortened week on the last day of trading on Thursday, which saw it tack on 1.15%. Domestic data turned out to be strong as Bank of England said that banks were likely to boost corporate lending in Q2 in its credit conditions survey, while UK CIPS manufacturing reached its highest level in more than 15 years, rising to 57.2 in March.
US updates added to the sentiment after US jobless claims update inspired enough optimism to calm tensions among investors ahead of Friday’s employment data. Initial claims were shown to have decreased by 6,000, while last week’s jobless claims update showed a steeper than expected decline of 14,000 to 442,000 for the previous week.
On Thursday, oil and gas engineering firm Petrofac (LSE: PFC) was atop the leaderboard with a 7% rally. Miners Xstrata (LSE: XTA) and Randgold Resources (LSE: RRS) followed, climbing 4.1%. Oil and gas producer Cairn Energy (LSE: CNE) also added 4%. Insurer Prudential (LSE: PRU) and copper miner Kazakhmys (LSE: KAZ) tacked on more than 3.5%, while base metal miners Antofagasta (LSE: ANTO) and Vedanta Resources (LSE: VED), London Stock Exchange Group (LSE: LSE) and defence contractor Cobham (LSE: COB) added more than 3%.
No FTSE 100 constituent lost more than 1%. Medical devices manufacturer Smith & Nephew (LSE: SN) and pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline (LSE: GSK) were down 0.7%. Commercial property company Segro (LSE: SGRO) declined 0.5%.
US stocks were buoyant on Thursday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.65%, the broader S&P 500 index climbed 0.75% and the technology heavy NASDAQ composite added 0.2%.
The FTSE 100 is currently projected to stay flat in early trading on Tuesday, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average is seen 0.1% lower today.