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LONDON (Alliance News) - The FTSE 100 closed flat Friday, just below its all-time record high, but a string of strong performances in the first few days of July ensured that the blue-chip index posted its biggest weekly gain since the week ending May 2.

Trading volumes were extremely low, partly because Wall Street was closed for the July 4 holiday and there was little in the way of economic data to provide direction.

After a modestly lower close on Monday, the FTSE 100 then rose for the next four days, buoyed by some upbeat data from the UK, some strong purchasing managers' index readings from China, and, most recently, a much stronger-than-expected jobs report and non-farm payrolls from the US.

The gains mean that the index has already more than reversed the losses posted in the month of June.

The FTSE 100 closed up 0.01% at 6,866.05 Friday, but up 1.6% for the week, meaning it is less than 100 points shy of its all-time high of 6,950.60. The FTSE 250 closed up 0.1% at 16,050.16, and up 2.4% for the week, while the AIM All-Share index closed up 0.1% at 790.62, but up 1.1% for the week.

Major European bourses ended the day fractionally lower, but posted strong gains for the week. The DAX 30 in Germany closed down 0.2% Friday, but up 2% for the week, while the CAC 40 in Paris closed down 0.5%, but up 0.7% for the week.

"It’s been a fairly quiet session in Europe today with the US off for their annual Independence Day holiday, no doubt enjoying the afterglow of yesterday’s positive jobs numbers, amidst a haze of cold beer and hotdogs," said Michael Hewson, chief market analyst at CMC Markets.

EasyJet and International Consolidated Airlines Group were among the biggest risers in the FTSE 100, after low-cost airlines easyJet and Ryanair Holdings, as well as Irish flag carrier Aer Lingus Group, all announced that passenger numbers continued to rise in June.

EasyJet said it flew 6.1 million passengers in June, up 10% on the 5.5 million passengers flown in June last year. Load factor also rose during the month, rising to 92% from 90% in the comparable month. On a rolling 12 month basis, the airline said passenger numbers to June 2014 were up 5.4% to 63.4 million, from 60.2 million recorded in June last year. Load factor for the 12-month period was also up, coming in at 90% from 89% in June 2013

Both easyJet and IAG ended the day among the biggest risers in the blue-chip index, closing up 1% and 0.7%, respectively.

At the other end of the spectrum, Sports Direct International closed down 2.1%, making it the heaviest faller in the FTSE 100, as it gave back some of the strong gains posted on Thursday. The company closed up 5.6% Thursday after investment bank Jefferies said that it expects the company's full-year results on July 17 to detail strong top-line growth, and healthy underlying pretax earnings.

In the FTSE 250, Serco Group, closing down 0.8%, and Stagecoach Group, closing down 0.4%, both fell after French transport group Keolis Amey Docklands was awarded the franchise to run the Docklands Light Railway in London from December 7, seeing off rival bids from the UK-based companies. The award means Serco has lost the franchise.

Keolis, a joint venture majority owned by French state rail operator SNCF, will operate and maintain the network until April 2021, with an option for this to be extended until 2023. Transport for London said around 100 million passenger journeys are made on the DLR network annually and this new contract, which is valued in excess of GBP700 million, will see Keolis Amey Docklands work with TfL to ensure that passengers continue to see improvements to the service.

Bus and rail operator Go-Ahead Group, which withdrew from the competition before it reached its conclusion, closed down 1.5% after Goldman Sachs downgraded the company to Buy, from Conviction Buy.

Meanwhile, William Hill, closing up 1.4%, was among the leading risers in the mid-cap index Friday. The bookmaker has appointed insider James Henderson as its new chief executive, replacing Ralph Topping, who is stepping down at the end of July after more than four decades at the company.

Incoming CEO Henderson, who has been with the company for 29 years after starting out at the company as a trainee manager, is currently William Hill's group director of operations, overseeing the UK retail business, online, and William Hill in Australia and the US.

In the forex market, the euro edged lower Friday after data showed that German factory orders fell more-than-forecast in May as both domestic and foreign orders decreased from last month. The data showed Europe's largest economy's factory orders falling by 1.7% in the month of May, while on a yearly basis growth slowed to 5.5% from 6.3% in April.

At the close of the UK equity market, the single currency trades at USD1.3598, CHF1.2157, and JPY138.790. The pound trades at USD1.7157, EUR1.2615, CHF1.5339, and JPY175.121.

In the data calendar on Monday, German industrial production numbers are released at 0700 BST, ahead of French trade data at 0745 BST. The National Institute of Economic and Social Research's UK GDP estimate is released at 1500 BST.

In the corporate calendar, FTSE 250-listed Taylor Wimpey is scheduled to release a trading update.

By James Kemp; jameskemp@alliancenews.com; @jamespkemp

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