By Sara Sjolin, MarketWatch
LONDON (MarketWatch) -- The U.K.'s FTSE 100 climbed for a third
straight day on Friday, led by miners and oil stocks, which got a
boost from higher commodity prices.
The FTSE's gains stood out as one of the few European stock
benchmarks in the green on Friday.
The London benchmark index gained 0.3% to close at 6,567.24, for
a 0.3% weekly advance.
Most other markets across Europe were mired in the red, as
investors tried to gauge what the latest reading on the U.S. labor
market means for monetary policy. The keenly watched U.S. Bureau of
Labor Statistics nonfarm payrolls report missed forecasts, showing
that 214,000 were added to the economy in October. However, the
unemployment rate beat expectations at 5.8%. Read: It may have been
the best October jobs report ever
Buoying the FTSE in London, oil companies moved firmly higher as
crude-oil prices climbed more than 1%. Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDSB)
gained 2.4%, BP PLC (BP) added 1.2% and BG Group PLC climbed
2.3%.
Mining shares advanced as metals prices headed north across the
board. Shares of Rio Tinto PLC (RIO) picked up 2.4%, Glencore PLC
(GLCNF) added 2% and BHP Billiton PLC (BHP) gained 3%.
But shares of Admiral Group PLC lost 3.5% after the car insurer
reported a drop in third-quarter revenue.
In other London news, real-estate company Songbird Estates PLC ,
which owns 69% of Canary Wharf, rejected a takeover bid from the
Qatar Investment Authority.
In U.K. data, the Office for National Statistics said the gap
between how much the U.K. buys abroad and what it exports continued
to widen in September, with the trade deficit for goods rising to
9.8 billion pound ($15.5 billion).
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