Traders find solace in US jobs numbers

Market report Scott Reid

The UK market was left to digest the latest US jobs data and trade war developments amid a quiet end-of-week session for domestic stocks.

Stateside employers added a higher-thanexpected 213,000 jobs last month, extending a long-running growth streak in the world’s biggest economy.

The manufacturing sector helped underpin the gains, with 36,000 positions added in June, but the retail sector shed 22,000 posts.

Tom Carroll, investment director at boutique investment manager Sanlam Four, said: “The continual growth of the US labour market shows no signs of abating, supported by strong economic growth.

“How much slack remains in the labour market looks unclear and pressure on wage growth continues to build – until that story unfolds and the threat from inflation becomes real, the [Federal Reserve] is unlikely to deter from its slow and steady path to lifting [interest] rates.”

Meanwhile, the world’s two biggest economies ignited a trade war that could have wideranging consequences for consumers, workers, companies, investors and political leaders.

The US slapped a 25 per cent tax on some $34 billion (£26bn) worth of Chinese imports, as China hit back with taxes on an equal amount of wide-ranging US products, including pork and electric cars.

China’s commerce ministry said Washington had “ignited the biggest trade war in economic history.”

London’s benchmark FTSE 100 index of Britain’s biggest stocks closed up 14.48 points at 7,617.7 after spending much of the day in the red.