FTSE 100 ends the week lower as European markets are hit by weak US jobs data
After another tumultuous week on the markets, the FTSE 100 it 0.86 per cent lower, at 5,848 points, after weak US jobs data weighed on global markets.
Other European markets followed suit, with the Cac falling 0.6 per cent to 4,200 points, while the Dax dipped 1.1 per cent to 9,286 points.
The biggest fallers included housebuilder Berkeley Group, which ended the day five per cent lower at 3,390p, and Inmarsat, which dropped 4.4 per cent to 1,020p.
Meanwhile miners Anglo American and Antofagasta made up the biggest risers, jumping 10.7 per cent and 3.7 per cent respectively.
That followed a day in which both the global and US oil benchmarks rose, with Brent crude rising 0.6 per cent to $34.63 and West Texas Intermediate rising 0.3 per cent to $31.81.
Meanwhile, US markets were suffering, with the S&P 500 falling 1.5 per cent to 1,886 points at lunchtime in New York, while the Dow Jones fell one per cent to 16,245.5 points. Meanwhile, the Nasdaq fell 2.7 per cent to 4,054 points – pushed down by LinkedIn, whose shares fell more than 40 per cent on forecasts of weaker trading.
"The markets were unsure how to interpret Friday’s US Employment Report for January, which revealed slower-than-expected growth in non-farm payrolls, but both a decline in the unemployment rate and faster growth in wages," said economists at Capital Economics.