UPDATE 1-Shell lifts FTSE 100 to 9-month high ahead of U.S. jobs report

Reuters · 01/06/2023 10:01
UPDATE 1-Shell lifts FTSE 100 to 9-month high ahead of U.S. jobs report

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FTSE 100 up 0.2%, FTSE 250 off 0.5%

Shell up after saying Q4 LNG earning might be higher

Miners rise on higher metal prices

U.S. -farm payrolls data due at 1330 GMT

Updates prices, adds comments and details

By Shashwat Chauhan


Jan 6 (Reuters) - Britain's FTSE 100 index hit a -month high on Friday, boosted by energy major Shell and other commodity-linked stocks, ahead of a crucial U.S. jobs report that could offer clues on the Federal Reserve's pace of interest rate hikes.

The blue-chip FTSE 100 .FTSE index rose 0.2%, extending gains to a fourth straight session. The index was bound for its biggest weekly jump in two months.

Shell Plc SHEL.L climbed 1.2% after it said earnings from its liquefied gas trading operations are likely to have been significantly higher in the fourth quarter of last year.

Mini stocks charged ahead, with precious .FTNMX551030 and base metal miners .FTNMX551020 rising more than 1% each as copper and iron ore prices rose. MET/L

Market focus is on the U.S. -farm payrolls report from the Labour Department, due at 1330 GMT.

"If you have a buoyant jobs data, it shows that there's more wiggle room for the Fed to keep raising rates," said Susannah Streeter, senior investment and markets analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown.


Rising interest rates globally weighed on risk sentiment last year as investors worried about a consequent recession. However, the FTSE 100 outperformed major global peers helped by gains in commodity-linked stocks.


The domestically focused FTSE 250 midcap stock .FTMC index fell 0.5% on Friday, on broad-based losses led by real estate stocks.


British construction activity fell last month at its sharpest rate since May 2020,
a survey showed
, as orders dried up in the face of rising interest rates and broader cost pressures.

Data from mortgage lender Halifax showed British house prices slid again in December.


Among individual stocks, Clarkson CKN.L jumped 6.4% after the shipping company said it expects 2022 profits to be ahead of market expectations.



UK sector performance in first week of 2023https://tmsnrt.rs/3immxJB

(Reporting by Shashwat Chauhan in Bengaluru; Editing by Rashmi Aich and Eileen Soreng)

((Shashwat.Chauhan@thomsonreuters.com;))


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