A STRONG afternoon session helped the FTSE climb into the green to end a broadly positive first week of trading in 2022.
London's top index had been in negative territory until around 2pm but pushed on later in the day as positivity among traders particularly buoyed banking and commodity stocks.
The FTSE 100 ended the day 34.91 points, or 0.47%, higher at 7,485.28 points.
Michael Hewson, chief market analyst at CMC Markets UK, said: "It's been a mixed finish to an otherwise positive week for European equity markets with the FTSE 100 outperforming today, due to outperformance from financials as well as basic resources.
"It came after the latest US payrolls report showed that wages pressure in the US economy is building, while the unemployment rate fell to pre-pandemic levels of 3.9%.
"Higher yields are once again favouring the banks with Barclays, Standard Chartered, and Lloyds Banking Group outperforming, while the likes of Antofagasta, BHP and Rio Tinto are being buoyed by firmer aluminium and copper prices."
Elsewhere in Europe, the other main indexes sank on the back of Wall Street concerns that interest rates could soon rise. The German Dax decreased by 0.65% and the French Cac fell by 0.42%.
In New York, the Dow Jones slipped on the opening bell despite falling unemployment as analysts fretted that the jobs report could spur the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates or unwind its asset-purchase programme.
Meanwhile, sterling had another a cautious showing as pandemic cases remain high in the UK.
The pound moved 0.01% lower versus the US dollar at 1.357, and increased 0.03% against the euro at 1.196.
Aston Martin made gains after the luxury car maker said it has finally started shipping its luxury Valkyrie hypercar to customers following delays.
Bosses added that the company's DBX SUV, on which they have pinned a long-awaited recovery, is selling well, with more than 3,000 units shifted last year.
Shares in the firm rose by 90.5p to 1,461p, taking it to the top of the FTSE 250.
Advertising agency M&C Saatchi swung lower following two days of rises driven by takeover talk. Shares dropped by 26p to 184p after the Soho-based firm said that a proposal from shareholder and director Vin Murria's investment vehicle did "not reflect the value of the business".
C&C Group closed lower after it warned new pandemic restrictions in December "significantly impacted" its trade across pubs and restaurants. The Magners cider and Tennent's lager maker finished 6.4p lower at 230.2p.
The price of oil took a step back following strong rises earlier in the week, which had been spurred by speculation that unrest in Kazakhstan could cause supply disruption. Brent crude decreased by 0.23% to $81.8 per barrel when London closed.
The biggest risers on the FTSE 100 were Anglo American, up 93p to 3,257p, BHP, up 60.5p to 2,305.5p, Prudential, up 34.5p to 1,320p, Rio Tinto, up 134p to 5,212p, and Legal & General, up 7.8p to 336.6p.
The biggest fallers on the FTSE 100 were Diageo, down 104p to 3,874.5p, United Utilities, down 14p to 605.8p, Spirax-Sarco, down 325p to 15,210p, Aveva, down 65p to 3,069p, and Dechra Pharmaceuticals, down 94p to 4,470p.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here