London midday: Stocks hold on to gains before US jobs report

The FTSE 100 was holding at a one-month high on Friday morning as investors awaited the US jobs report this afternoon which could spark a volatile reaction on stock markets worldwide.US futures were pointing to a strong start on Wall Street today, though volumes were on the light side as traders returned to their desks after the Independence Day holiday on Thursday.London's benchmark index was building on its massive gains the day before, after jumping 3.1% on the back of dovish comments by the Bank of England and European Central Bank, as policymakers sought to give more forward guidance on interest rates.Helping to support stocks this morning were comments by Goldman Sachs which recommended to go long UK equities for three reasons: the UK economic "looks to be on an upswing" after recent upbeat data; monetary policy looks likely to ease further; a "gradual stabilisation" in Eurozone growth is expected in the second half.US jobs in focusNevertheless, all eyes today will be on the Labor Department's employment report for June, with US non-farm payrolls expected to rise by 165,000, down from the 175,000 gain in May. The jobless rate is expected to fall from 7.6% to 7.5%, according to consensus estimates."Not only do these figures have a significant impact on when the Fed will begin tapering, there's also an element of uncertainty about how traders will react to the data," said Market Analyst Craig Erlam from Alpari."Ordinarily, strong jobs data would be positive for equities and other risk assets. However, given that an strong data could result in tapering of quantitative easing (QE), which is negative for stocks, the opposite reaction could be seen."However, he said that given the well-received ADP employment report on Wednesday which came in well ahead of forecasts, this would suggest that investors are now accepting that "QE is on borrowed time and have already moved on".FTSE 100: British Land up after Paddington acquisitionBritish Land rose strongly this morning after acquiring a majority of Paddington Central, a, 11-acre mixed use estate in London's West End. The property comprises seven modern buildings and a retail and leisure cluster, totalling 1.2m sq ft.Oil and gas engineer Wood Group wasn't far behind after the shares were upgraded by Bank of America to 'buy' and lifted its target price from 940p to 1,040p. The stock was extending gains after the company secured its sixth major North Sea contract extension of the year.Defence and aerospace engineering group firm Meggitt was lower after Deutsche Bank downgraded the stock from 'buy' to 'hold', citing "insufficient upside" since the share price has surpassed its target.Similarly, UBS has cut its recommendation for restaurant and hotel firm Whitbread from 'buy' to 'neutral', causing the stock to fall.Miners were under the weather this morning as metals prices slipped. Fresnillo, Antofagasta, Glencore Xstrata and Rio Tinto were among the worst performers.FTSE 250: Gold miners, Afren rise early onAfrican Barrick Gold and Polymetal were in demand this morning after Nomura raised its ratings for the gold miners to 'buy' following recent falls. However, the broker has cut its target prices significantly, saying it remains bearish on gold prices in the near term.Sector peer Centamin meanwhile was continuing to perform well on the back of developments in Egypt after President Mohamed Mursi was ousted from office by the army. Centamin has been involved in a legal dispute with Egypt's administrative court since the government came into power regarding the validity of its Sukari licence.Oil and gas group Afren was higher after acquiring a further interest in First Hydrocarbon Nigeria (FHN), increasing its share in a compelling portfolio of assets onshore. The firm has bought a 23.3% stake for $105.4m from and entered into a put/call option to buy a further 12.5%.FTSE 100 - RisersTravis Perkins (TPK) 1,567.00p +2.75%Aberdeen Asset Management (ADN) 394.90p +2.36%British Land Co (BLND) 596.00p +1.97%Associated British Foods (ABF) 1,838.00p +1.83%Reckitt Benckiser Group (RB.) 4,843.00p +1.70%Diageo (DGE) 2,000.50p +1.68%Babcock International Group (BAB) 1,148.00p +1.59%Intertek Group (ITRK) 3,041.00p +1.54%Bunzl (BNZL) 1,383.00p +1.54%Standard Chartered (STAN) 1,518.00p +1.44%FTSE 100 - FallersFresnillo (FRES) 913.00p -3.03%Whitbread (WTB) 3,107.00p -2.75%Antofagasta (ANTO) 818.50p -1.98%Glencore Xstrata (GLEN) 269.60p -1.87%Rio Tinto (RIO) 2,716.00p -1.50%Melrose Industries (MRO) 267.50p -1.47%BHP Billiton (BLT) 1,704.50p -1.45%Vedanta Resources (VED) 1,037.00p -1.05%Anglo American (AAL) 1,251.00p -0.95%Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 4,260.00p -0.95%FTSE 250 - RisersCentamin (DI) (CEY) 38.41p +7.44%Xaar (XAR) 845.00p +7.23%COLT Group SA (COLT) 105.70p +4.76%Mitie Group (MTO) 269.00p +3.78%Redrow (RDW) 246.80p +3.74%Enterprise Inns (ETI) 116.00p +3.57%Crest Nicholson Holdings (CRST) 344.90p +3.42%African Barrick Gold (ABG) 108.70p +3.23%Bank of Georgia Holdings (BGEO) 1,769.00p +3.15%Regus (RGU) 185.00p +3.01%FTSE 250 - FallersHochschild Mining (HOC) 163.80p -3.70%Kazakhmys (KAZ) 261.00p -2.87%Carillion (CLLN) 268.60p -2.82%F&C Asset Management (FCAM) 95.00p -1.86%Telecom Plus (TEP) 1,325.00p -1.85%Carpetright (CPR) 627.00p -1.80%Electrocomponents (ECM) 245.90p -1.60%Fenner (FENR) 308.80p -1.47%Ocado Group (OCDO) 299.90p -1.35%Lonmin (LMI) 277.20p -1.35%