RTRS: FTSE 100 up as U.S. stimulus plan, jobs data eyed
Britain's FTSE 100 share index was up 0.3 percent early on Friday, as banks rallied amidst hopes that the U.S. government will soon be able to make new moves to stimulate the economy, with key jobs data due later today.
At 0903 GMT, the FTSE 100 .FTSE was up 10.61 points at 4,239.54, its fourth day in positive territory. But the index is down 4.3 percent this year after losing over 31 percent in 2008.
Investors were keeping a close eye on the progress of the U.S. stimulus package. The democrat-led Senate will try again on Friday to pass a $937 billion stimulus package even as moderate lawmakers sought to broker a deal to trim proposed spending.
Banks were lifted ahead of the vote as investors continued to ponder how their so-called "toxic assets" will be managed.
Lloyds Bank Group (LLOY.L) the top FTSE gainer, was up 6.5 percent, and Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS.L) and HSBC (HSBA.L) were up 5.5 and 3.4 percent respectively.
"There are various articles around about whether the (creation of a) "bad bank" idea will re-emerge or that the asset protection insurance will be tweaked," said Tim Whitehead stockbroker at Redmayne-Bentley.
"The threat of wholesale nationalisation is receding and against that backdrop it's understandable that there's support for the banks."
On the data front, key U.S. jobs figures due later -- predicted to paint an even bleaker picture of the U.S. labour market -- are expected to be closely watched, with an estimated half a million jobs shed in January. [nN04455795]
The markets will also be looking to UK industrial output and PPI data for December due at 0930 GMT for further clues on the likely depth and length of the UK recession.
Miners were among the top FTSE gainers, supported by firmer metals prices. Kazakhmys (KAZ.L), Rio Tinto (RIO.L), Xstrata (XTA.L) and Vedanta (VED.L) were all up between 0.7 and 3.1 percent.
British Airways (BAY.L) jumped 5.4 percent despite posting a nine-month pretax loss of 70 million pounds, down from a profit of 816 million pounds a year ago, as it reaffirmed its full- year revenue guidance of at least 4 percent year on year.
