FTSE 100 close: London’s premier index ends week lower after US jobs report
London’s FTSE 100 closed the week lower as global markets grew increasingly nervous about the extent of interest rate rises still to come.
The FTSE 100 closed 0.37 per cent lower at 7,253.43 while the domestically focused FTSE 250 performed more strongly, rising 0.54 per cent to 18,012.46.
Investors were digesting the latest jobs data from the US, released this afternoon. The US economy added 209,000 jobs in June, the fewest in about two and a half years and below consensus estimates.
While this implied the labour market is starting to cool, the data also showed persistently strong wage growth, suggesting that further rate hikes were likely.
Analysts at Capital Economics said the data “suggests labour market conditions are finally beginning to ease more markedly. That said, it is unlikely to stop the Fed from hiking rates again later this month, particularly when the downward trend in wage growth appears to be stalling.”
The data will be a relief after investors were spooked by a stronger than expected US private sector jobs data, released yesterday.
On the FTSE 100 a slew of firms were in the red with RELX, Intertek and Severn Trent the day’s largest fallers.
The FTSE’s largest riser was Ocado, which ended over seven per cent higher.
Coca-Cola HBC, the bottling company for the soft drinks giant. It rose over five per cent after upping its profit forecasts for 2023 on the back of a “very strong” June performance.
The upgraded forecast came after a “stronger than anticipated finish,” to the first six months of the year, with June historically one of the most important months of the year for the bottler.
On the FTSE 250, OneSavings Bank tumbled nearly 30 per cent after it revealed it would take a hit of up to £180m due to changing customer behaviour.
In a statement released after market close last night, the FTSE 250-listed bank said customers in a certain part of the loan book were choosing to refinance earlier than expected at the end of their fixed-rate deal.
This meant they were spending less time on the higher reversion rate, the rate mortgages revert to after the end of a fixed rate deal.