FTSE 100 watch: Footsie holds steady after stronger-than-expected jobs report

The UK benchmark index has climbed higher on the first day of February, boosted by US-China trade deal hopes and holding steady following better-than-expected non-farm payrolls data on the other side of the Atlantic. In individual FTSE 100 movers, Glencore (LON:GLEN) is underperforming the market as it posted its full-year production report.

FTSE 100 holds steady

As of 13:38 GMT, the Footsie had added 31.54 points to stand 0.45 percent higher at 7,000.39. Sentiment has been upbeat in today’s session amid hopes for US-China trade talks and after earlier this week, the Federal Reserve signalled patience about hiking rates.

Reuters reports that markets got  boost when US President Donald Trump said that he would meet Chinese President Xi Jinping soon to try to seal a comprehensive trade deal and the top US negotiator reported ‘substantial progress’ in two days of high-level talks.

The FTSE 100 has remained in positive territory after the US Bureau for Labour Statistics said that the world’s biggest economy had added 304,000 new jobs last month, while the nation’s unemployment rate edged up to four percent. CNBC reports that economists surveyed by Dow Jones had expected payrolls to have climbed by 170,000 and the unemployment rate to have held steady at 3.9 percent.

Individual movers

In individual Footsie movers, Glencore is underperforming the market after reporting a rise in  own sourced copper production and a fall in sales. The commodity giant’s shares are 1.40 percent down at 305.11p.

Royal Dutch Shell (LON:RDSA), whose shares rallied on the back of its full-year results yesterday, has extended gains and is currently trading 0.76 percent higher at 2,380.00p.

The FTSE 100 index was 0.52 percent higher at 7,005.07 points as of 13:56 GMT on Friday, 01 February 2019.