The FTSE 100 brought up a century of gains on Friday ending the week with a flourish as strong US payrolls figures, cooling average wage growth and news the debt ceiling bill has passed a vote in the US Senate sent US stocks motoring higher.
As the runs flow at Lords, London's lead index rose 108 points to 7,599, heading to the close.
The May US jobs report showed the economy added 339,000 jobs in May, well above the 190,000 consensus expectation while upward revisions to the past two months totalled 93,000, underscoring the strength of job creation.
The unemployment did rise to 3.7% from 3.4% while average hourly wage growth moderated, as expected, to 0.3% month-on-month from last month's 0.5%, leaving the annual rate of hourly earnings wage growth at 4.3%
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was over 400 points to the good in early exchanges although commentators noted the US jobs report was not all good news.
Ian Shepherdson Chief Economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics described the payrolls data as a "nightmare report," for the Federal Reserve.
Do they stick to incoming VC Jefferson’s clear signal of a June pause, just a couple days ago, or do they rewrite the script, he asked?
"With no more voting speakers scheduled before the meeting, we’re assuming no change in rates is still the most likely outcome, but if Chair Powell and his colleagues want to change the signal, they can do so via their usual channel - the WSJ - over the next few days," he reckoned.
Shepherdson said it was the "strangest employment report for some time," adding the payroll surge "is impossible to square with leading indicators."
ING Economics noted companies are reporting a jobs surge in May, yet households are telling us employment plunged. Who to believe, they asked.
“With wage growth continuing to soften and hours worked edging lower the market is thinking the June FOMC meeting "skip" narrative still holds,” it felt.
However, ING said a “hot core CPI print on 13 June could yet tip the balance.”