London stocks edge lower as hot US jobs data weighs on markets

“European markets slipped back from their highs

The FTSE finished marginally lower after earlier gains were dragged back by hot jobs data from the US.

Yesterday’s non-farm payroll figures knocked back the US markets and weighed on sentiment across Europe as a result.

London trading was more robust than other parts of Europe, drifting from intra-day highs but keeping the FTSE noticeably higher for the week as a whole.

The FTSE 100 finished the day down 2.26 points, or 0.03%, at 7,556.23.

Michael Hewson, chief market analyst at CMC Markets UK, said: “European markets slipped back from their highs of the week in the wake of an unexpectedly strong US labour market report for November, which saw 263,000 jobs added in November.

“The numbers have also done little to undermine what has been a strong week for the FTSE 100, which has been helped by hopes of a relaxation of Covid restrictions in China, while the Dax has broadly traded sideways from last week’s close.

“The resilience of the US jobs numbers, while welcome, has acted as a brake on market gains as investors price out the prospect of an imminent sharp slowdown in US rate-hiking intentions.”

The Dax improved 0.27% by the end of the session and the French Cac finished 0.17% lower.

In the US, the Nasdaq took particularly heavy losses as higher yields impacted tech firms hard while the S&P 500 also slipped.

Meanwhile, sterling held on to its gains, despite a rally for the dollar following the better-than-expected jobs figures.

The pound was up 0.27% against the dollar at 1.229 and was 0.32% higher against the euro at 1.168 at the close.

In company news, Cineworld shares were higher on the back of reports in The Times that rival Vue could make a consolidation play for the larger rival.

Shares in Cineworld, the world’s second-largest cinema group, have plunged this year after it filed for US bankruptcy protection after suffering weak audience figures over the summer.

Cineworld finished the day up 0.198p at 4.8p.