The FTSE picked up the pace as Friday went on, mounting its latest assault on 7550 after a week of failing to keep above that level.
Rising half a percent, the UK index is back within touching distance of its 3 month highs, boosted in part by the 5% and 6% gains seen by IAG (LON:ICAG) and Pearson (LON:PSON) respectively. Also helping is the pound’s continued limpness against the dollar and the euro; cable is down 0.1%, trickling to a fresh 16 week nadir, while against its single currency peer sterling may be up 0.2%, but it’s barely off Thursday’s 7 week lows.
The eurozone saw some similarly solid growth, with the DAX back to 12750 following a 60 point climb. The CAC was slightly less impressive, up just 0.1%. The thrust of the region’s gains stems from the euro’s own losses; the single currency fell 0.3% against the dollar and 0.2% against the pound following a string of underperforming services PMIs across the eurozone.
Turning to this afternoon and the Dow Jones is keeping its cards close to its chest of the non-farm jobs report. While the unemployment rate is set to drop to 4.0%, with the headline non-farm figure forecast to jump from 103k to 190k, wage growth is expected to struggle, slipping back to 0.2% from April’s 0.3%. That latter number might take the edge off the dollar given stagnant wages are a key concern of the Fed, something that might help alleviate the Dow’s recent ailments.
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