US jobs data proved a bit of a non-event, and certainly did not provide any impetus for the bulls.
"If there is a takeaway from today’s data, it may be that, yes, the Fed is looking more and more likely to raise rates in September; however, given low headline inflation readings and a lack of ‘break neck’ speed in the labour market, the first hike in September (or October or December for that matter) is likely to be an isolated event; the Fed will raise rates once then hold for some time thereafter,” suggests Christopher Vecchio, a currency analyst at DailyFX.
US markets ebbed after the jobs data release, and UK stocks followed them lower.
The FTSE 100 closed at 6,718, down 29 points on the day but up 22 points on what was a busy week.
On the company news front, bookie William Hill (LON:WMH) fell 6.5% to 384.3p on the back of underwhelming results. The bookie blamed new government legislation and write-downs as it saw pre-tax profit drop 35% to just £78.7mln (£121mln) and operating profit fall 12% to £155mln.
Broadcaster ITV (LON:ITV) was a switch-off after US media companies took a tumble overnight. Shares fell 3.4% to 262.6p as ITV has been expanding its international base with acquisitions of US production studios.
Mining stocks provided some much needed support to the Footsie, with Vedanta (LON:VED), Anglo American (LON:AAL) and Glencore (LON:GLEN) the picks of the bunch.
Shares in parcels and letters group UK Mail (LON:UKM) posted a 14% fall after it sounded the earnings alarm.
It slashed guidance after it said its move to a new fully automated facility in Coventry had "caused a greater level of customer churn and loss of volume than anticipated".
As a result, full-year pre-tax profits are expected to be in the £10-12mln range, well shy of the £20.1mln predicted by the City.
Also on the slide was Golden Saint Resources (LON:GSR), down 15.6%, after it revealed details of a board room shuffle. Cyril D'Silva becomes chief executive officer, while David McDonald has taken over from D’Silva as chairman, with executive responsibility.
Top performer among small caps today was AorTech (LON:AOR), which rose by 41% to 36p as revenues doubled to US$844,000 at the medical device provider in the year to March as losses more than halved to US$326,000.
Geoscience specialist Getech (LON:GTC) advanced 11.5% to 58p as it said the year to July would show “a very significant year on year improvement.”
Pre-tax profits are expected to double to £2mln with a 29% rise in revenues.
Turkey-focused gold miner Stratex (LON:STI) was wanted after a private-listed investment company Forest Nominees took a 4% stake in the company. The shares were 12% better at 2.1p.