The eagerly awaited US non-farm payroll report for May provided London's stock market with plenty of excitement yesterday - stock prices swung wildly as dealers and economists grappled with the data and the implications for US interest rates. The FTSE 100 finally settled in positive territory for the fifth consecutive session, it added 12.9 to finish at 6,361.5.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average gave a strongly positive response to the employment news, racing up 90 points only minutes after the opening bell, before easing back as the session wore on.
Prior to the US news the London market had suffered from general lack of interest, despite the encouraging news from the Balkans, where a peace agreement is being negotiated, and the good showing by Wall Street overnight, where the Dow moved up 85 points.
The turbulence in the leading stocks did not spill over into the midcap and smallcap stocks, which maintained their recent progress. The FTSE 250 ended 21.3 higher at 5,740.9, while the FTSE SmallCap, was up 8.7 yesterday at 2,560.8.
Turnover in equities was a disappointing 920 million shares.
