LONDON (Alliance News) - London stocks are broadly higher Monday, shrugging off a slide in Brent crude to a new five-and-a-half year low amid continued focus on December's mixed US jobs report which saw strong employment gains and an upward revision to November's figures but a slowdown in wage growth.
The FTSE 100 is 0.4% higher at 6,527.89, the FTSE 250 is flat at 16,014.82, and the AIM All-Share index is up 0.5% at 706.69.
"Considering the FTSE?s usual reaction to oil?s new lows, the UK index managed to have a strong open to the week as investors were able to factor in the commodity?s plunge for a relatively stable Monday morning," says Connor Campbell at Spreadex.
Brent crude is quoted at around USD48.75 a barrel after touching a new five-and-a-half year low of USD48.52 early Monday. US benchmark West Texas Intermediate was quoted at USD47.28.
"With oil prices already making some significant moves overnight it would take a brave person to bet against these high levels of market volatility continuing," says Craig Erlam at Alpari. "I think we're going to see plenty more volatility in the coming days as pressure mounts on oil producers to scale back production before prices get dangerously low."
The Labor Department's closely watched jobs report on Friday said US employment increased by 252,000 jobs in December after jumping by an upwardly revised 353,000 jobs in November, helping to push the unemployment rate down to 5.6% in December from 5.8% in November. Economists had forecast a rise of 245,000 jobs and a dip in the unemployment rate to 5.7%.
While the upbeat data suggest that the Federal Reserve will consider raising interest rates in the near future, the report also showed a slowdown in annual wage growth to 1.7% in December from 2.0% in November to record the slowest rate of growth since January of 2012.
The DAX in Germany and the CAC-40 in Paris are up strongly Monday, both climbing 1.6%. The statistical offices in France and Italy and Germany's Ifo Institute said the euro area region is set to expand moderately in the first and second quarters of 2015, growing 0.3% in each period, mainly driven by domestic demand.
Futures are indicating a higher open on Wall Street. The DJIA, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq 100 are all called to open up 0.4%.
In UK stocks, AO World is up 7.2% as the online retailer said website revenue for the three months to December 31 was up 38%, and total revenue, including third party retail and logistics, was up 26%. The home appliance retailer said the outlook for the full year remains in line with expectations.
Taylor Wimpey is down 1% despite entering 2015 with a record order book of GBP1.4 billion. The house builder said total home completions increased by 6% to 12,454 in 2014 and average selling prices on private completions increased by 11% to GBP234,000, a result of a shift to better quality locations and capturing market sales price increases.
Shire shares are flat on the day after the pharmaceutical company on Sunday said it has agreed to acquire the US's NPS Pharmaceuticals Inc for USD46.00 per share in cash, in a deal worth a total of USD5.2 billion.
No significant economic data are scheduled for release Monday.
The Hang Seng in Hong Kong ended up 0.5% at 24,026.46, and the Shanghai Composite was down 1.7% at 3,229.316. Japan was closed for Coming of Age Day.
By Ian Edmondson; ianedmondson@alliancenews.com
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Taylor Wimpey (TW.)
Ao World (AO.)