FTSE 100 watch: Footsie steady as non-farm payrolls undershoot expectations

The UK benchmark index has steadied in afternoon trade, staying little changed after the highly-anticipated US jobs report fell short of forecasts. In individual movers, Worldpay (LON:WPG) has climbed to the top of the FTSE 100 leaderboard following an upgrade at Exane BNP Paribas.

As of 14:00 GMT, the Footsie had added 5.75 percent to stand 0.08 percent higher at 7,201.06, staying on track to post a gain for the first week of 2017. The index has been little changed after the US Bureau of Labour Statistics reported that the world’s biggest economy had added 156,000 new jobs last month. IG had previously reported that expectations stood for 175,000 new jobs. The unemployment rate meanwhile was little changed at 4.7 percent, in line with expectations.

“Job creation and the overall labour market conditions remain solid,” Jim Baird, chief investment officer for Plante Moran Financial Advisors, told Reuters. “With the potential for stronger fiscal stimulus in the form of infrastructure spending and tax cuts, job creation appears likely to remain on a solid footing in 2017.”

In individual stock news, Worldpay’s share price has gained 2.12 percent to 284.00p after analysts at Exane BNP Paribas lifted their stance on the stock from ‘neutral’ to ‘outperform’.

Lloyds Banking Group (LON:LLOY) has been another prominent Footsie riser after Barclays raised its rating on the bailed-out lender from ‘equal weight’ to ‘overweight’ and hiked its valuation on the stock from 55p to 75p. Lloyds’ shares are currently changing hands 1.53 percent higher at 65.64p.

The FTSE 100 was 0.01 percent down at 7,194.75 points as of 14:49 GMT on Friday, 06 January 2017.

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