By Carla Mozee, MarketWatch
Retailers advance after January data
U.K. stocks slumped Friday while the pound retreated against the
U.S. dollar on the heels of a closely watched U.S. jobs report,
which dragged U.S. stocks down.
The FTSE 100 closed down 0.9% at 5,848.06, after a choppy
session where stocks briefly held to a gain in the wake of the jobs
data. The index dropped 3.9% on the week, breaking two previous
weeks of advances and marking its worst week in about a month.
Investors struggled to interpret the jobs data, with some
strategists and investors indicating that the report might leave
open the possibility of a rate increase by the U.S. Federal
Reserve, while others believing that it confirmed growing weakness
in the world's largest economy.
The possibility that a rate increase by the Fed might still
happen at its next policy meeting in March delivered a jolt to the
dollar against its main rivals.
After the jobs report, "it's been a bit of a mixed response
generally across markets but there is dollar strength. Equity
markets are not entirely certain how to take it [with] very choppy
moves," said Richard Perry, market analyst at Hantec Markets.
During afternoon trade, the U.S. Labor Department's January
report
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/us-jobs-growth-slows-to-151000-as-jobless-rate-hits-eight-year-low-2016-02-05)
showed nonfarm payrolls rose by a less-than-anticipated 151,000
jobs. But the unemployment rate dropped to an eight-year low of
4.9% and average hourly wages surged 0.5% to $25.39 an hour.
"The headline number obviously matters but the market is
certainly looking out for those hourly earnings picking up and
feeding into inflation," Perry said. "The market had probably
backed itself into thinking there was going to be a weak report and
the actual report has been a bit better than that and that's why
the dollar has strengthened."
The pound hit an intraday low of $1.4452, according to FactSet
data, after the data. Late Thursday, it bought $1.4590. Read more
in Currencies
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/dollar-could-hit-115-if-jobs-data-disappoints-analyst-2016-02-05).
Miners: Mining shares remained volatile Friday following a sharp
rise in the previous session. Thursday's rally was helped by a
slide in the U.S. dollar as weakness in the greenback tends to aid
dollar-denominated commodities and related shares. The U.S. dollar
index is still on track for a weekly loss.
A "helpful combination of USD weakness, short covering,
technical breakouts and brokers [were] suggesting a bottom for some
base metals," said Mike Van Dulken, head of research at Accendo
Markets, in a note.
Read: Why a January jobs slowdown may not be a bad sign
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/why-a-january-jobs-slowdown-may-not-be-a-bad-sign-2016-02-04)
After starting Friday in the red, platinum miner Anglo American
PLC (AAL.LN) drove higher by 11%, which adds to Thursday's 20%
leap. "[L]ook back over the last fortnight and the stock has tacked
on almost 40%--a colossal gain for a blue chip, and one that for
now anyway looks set to retain its FTSE 100 place," said Tony
Cross, market analyst at Trustnet Direct.
Glencore PLC (GLEN.LN) (GLEN.LN) gained 2.5%, building on
Thursday's 16% bounce. Standard & Poor's, citing sector
challenges, cut the commodities trader and miner's debt rating on
Thursday to BBB-, the lowest level of investment grade.
Oil swings: Shares in BG Group PLC (BG.LN) narrowed to a 0.2%
rise. The energy company beat expectations for full-year production
targets
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/bg-group-profit-slips-22-beats-production-target-2016-02-05-3485186).
But underlying profit fell 22% in the fourth quarter, as oil prices
collapsed. BG is being acquired by Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDSB.LN)
(RDSB.LN). Shell shares ended up 0.8%, off session highs.
Oil prices moved lower after the jobs report as the dollar
gained ground. West Texas Intermediate oil fell 0.8% to $31.47 a
barrel while Brent crude lost grip of gains and fell 0.6% to $34.25
a barrel.
Retailers: "Retailers are finding cheer off the back of reports
showing January was a bumper month for U.K. high streets," or Main
Street stores, said Trustnet's Cross.
Comparable-store sales in the five weeks to Jan. 31 rose 1.4%
against the year-earlier period, said business advisory BDO in its
monthly High Street Sales Tracker report.
"Although this reads as a fairly flat performance, the month was
one of two halves with the first two weeks of the month showing
consumers coming out in force for bargain hunting," BDO said in its
report. Fashion retailers had a strong showing as sales rose
1.9%.
Retail shares were higher in the beginning of the day, but
trimmed or erased gains after the U.S. jobs report. Department
store operator Marks & Spencer Group PLC (MKS.LN) fell 0.1% and
apparel seller Next PLC (NXT.LN) dropped 0.7%. Home improvement
specialist Kingfisher PLC (KGF.LN) bulked up 1.2% and supermarket
chain Tesco PLC (TSCO.LN) bounced up 2.8%.
Investing Insights: A global markets survival guide
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The event is free and open to the public, but reservations are
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(END) Dow Jones Newswires
February 05, 2016 12:49 ET (17:49 GMT)
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