A marginal rise of 0.15pc in the FTSE 100 puts it at the top of the European markets leaderboard right now. Germany’s Dax is flat while France’s Cac is down by 0.33pc right now. The pan-European Euro Stoxx 600 is also flat, with traders holding their breath for a key US payrolls report due out this afternoon.
The 1.30pm announcement is expected to show America’s private sector add 750,000 jobs to the economy in August. Investors are eyeing it as a key influence on the Federal Reserve’s decision on when to taper from its current level of making $120bn of asset purchases a month, the liquidity that has been behind stock markets’ huge jumps since the start of the pandemic.
A figure much lower than the expected 750,000 could push traders to pile into stocks, analysts predict, as it would signal a weaker than expected economy and therefore no slowdown in the Federal Reserve’s rate of support. A figure much higher could have the reverse impact, triggering a sell-off in anticipation of a faster and steeper tapering.
If it’s much of a guide, a separate measure of US payrolls in…
