UK stocks : FTSE 100 up 0.2 pct
Britain's top share index closed a touch higher on Friday, helped by a robust U.S. jobs report, although weak consumer confidence data from the world's biggest economy and a grim UK economic outlook knocked sentiment.
The FTSE 100 closed up 12.98 points, or 0.2 percent, at 5,914.40, having hit a high of 5,923.11 after data showed U.S. non-farm employment increased by a better-than-expected 146,000 jobs last month.
But the market trimmed gains after a separate report showing U.S. consumer confidence plunged in early December to its lowest since August.
"You take the sugar rush from the payrolls data, and then you take the flipside of that with the confidence data... and basically now we're looking at the FOMC next week, and we're back where we were when we started," Michael Hewson, senior analyst at CMC Markets, said.
A meeting next week of the Federal Open Market Committee
(FOMC) will be closely watched to see if U.S. policymakers decide to keep pumping money into the economy.
"We're going to try and push higher, but we really need something much more positive and much more conclusive given the newsflow that we've had today," Hewson said.
Gloomy UK economic data dampened the mood, with British industrial production unexpectedly falling in October after factory output posted its biggest drop since June, fuelling fears the economy will shrink again at the end of this year. Retailers, inextricably linked to the state of the UK economy, were out of favour, with high street stalwart Marks & Spencer the worst off, down 1.1
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