Britain's leading share index rose for the third day in a row on Friday, reversing earlier losses after the release of bearish US jobs data, on a belief the sell-off had been overdone. Led by banks and miners, the FTSE 100 closed 17.08 points higher, or 0.3 percent, at 5142.72, for a weekly gain of 2 percent - its best weekly performance for a month.
Data showed the US unemployment rate rose to 10.2 percent, the highest in 26-1/2 years, as employers shed 190,000 in nonfarm payrolls in October. "The first move lower was overdone. Most traders had priced in double figure unemployment and had it come in under 10 percent I would have expected a move higher," said Jimmy Yates, head of equities at CMC Markets. "Both the UK and US markets are trading within ranges at this time. The support levels were tested and they held. There's some volatility but still a lot of money waiting on the sidelines," he said, explaining the thin volumes.
Banks were the biggest gainers with part-nationalised Royal Bank of Scotland up 5.3 percent after more than halving its losses in the third quarter and offering a few shreds of comfort in relation to bad debts. Lloyds Banking Group added 2.2 percent, buoyed by a Citigroup upgrade to "buy" from "hold", accompanied by a significant target hike to 104 pence from 37 after the firm's withdrawal from the UK government's asset protection scheme.
Positive broker sentiment also aided Barclays, up 1.3 percent, with J.P. Morgan lifting its target price. Standard Chartered and HSBC added 2.1 and 2.5 percent, respectively. British finance minister Alistair Darling said G20 policymakers are agreed that it is too early to pull the plug on economic life-support packages, as the global recovery is still fragile.
Gold, which is often used by investors as an alternative to the dollar, surged to a record high above $1,100 per ounce, helping to lift London-listed mining issues. Antofagasta, up 1.6 percent, was also helped by a Citigroup upgrade to "buy", while Rio Tinto, Eurasian Natural Resources, Xstrata and Kazakhmys added 0.5 to 2 percent. On the downside, oil majors were the main drag on the FTSE 100 after a rally on Thursday, and were also weighed down as the price of crude fell on demand fears following the payroll data. BP, BG Group and Royal Dutch Shell were all off between 0.6 and 1.6 percent.
Among individual movers, Rentokil Initial shed 6.3 percent as a third-quarter trading update from the pest control to parcel delivery firm failed to excite. British Airways gained 6.7 percent as investors welcomed second-quarter results from the airline, with BofA Merrill Lynch repeating its "buy" rating on the stock. "The market needs a spark. There's no real momentum either way at the moment and unless we get some unexpected economic or corporate news we could be treading water up until Christmas, which would be disappointing," said Yates.