The FTSE 100 is projected to decline 0.1% this morning. The UK’s blue chip index rallied 3.5% last week after the Federal Reserve announced a US$600 billion stimulus and jobs data from the US Labor Department revealed that non-farm payrolls in the US rose 151,000 in October.
The FTSE 100 reached the highest closing level in 29 months at 5,875 on Friday.
Miner Vedanta Resources (LON:VED) emerged atop the leaderboard with a 6% gain. Medical devices manufacturer Smith & Nephew (LON:SN) followed, advancing 5.2%. Another mining major Eurasian Natural Resources (LON:ENRC) and engineering company Invensys (LON:ISYS) added 4.4%. Silver producer Fresnillo (LON:FRES) rose 3.4% and chipmaker ARM Holdings (LON:ARM) climbed 3.2%. Pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline (LON:GSK) moved up 2.8%.
Turbine manufacturer Rolls-Royce (LON:RR) was the heaviest faller in the FTSE 100 with a 5% loss. Royal Bank of Scotland (LON:RBS) declined 4.5%. Packaging group Rexam (LON:REX) and bank HSBC (LON:HSBA) lost 2% and 1.7% respectively. RSA Insurance Group (LON:RSA), airline British Airways (LON:BAY), defence contractor Cobham (LON:COB) and gold miner African Barrick Gold (LON:ABG) were down 1.5%.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average recovered late in Friday’s session to close with a 0.1% gain. The broader S&P 500 index advanced 0.4% and the technology heavy NASDAQ composite rose marginally.
Markets in Asia and Australia were mixed today. China’s Shanghai Composite Index climbed 0.7%, South Korea’s KOSPI rose 0.2% and Japan’s Nikkei 225 advanced 1.1%, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was down 0.2% and Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 dropped 0.5%.
Commodities
Oil prices moved higher with US light, sweet crude for December delivery rising to US$86.94/barrel, while December Brent Crude reached US$88.16/barrel.
Gold ended the week at US$1,394/oz. Silver reached US$26.76/oz, while platinum declined to US$1,767/oz.