FTSE 100 gains as investors digest US jobs figures and aluminium hits 10-year high

“The shockwaves are still reverberating from the sickly US jobs numbers on Friday, but the markets appear taking the positives from the news on Monday,” says AJ Bell Investment Director Russ Mould.

“The US Federal Reserve has consistently reiterated that its decision making will be heavily led by the unemployment situation and therefore a weakening in the labour market could see it hold off on tapering its support for the economy for a bit longer.

“At the same time the figures are a reminder that a continuing recovery from the pandemic can’t be taken for granted as the Delta variant continues to rage.

“Apart from those issues, you can practically feel the tumbleweed brushing past you this morning with US markets closed for Labor Day, relatively few big economic announcements and hardly any corporate news of note.

“Commodity markets remain volatile with aluminium rising to a decade high as a coup in major bauxite producer Guinea raises alarm over the supply of the raw material required to make the metal.

“This follows a surge in uranium prices last week as it apparently became the latest asset to move onto the radar of the WallStreetBets brigade on Reddit.

“While US private equity firms have been busily streamlining the UK market as they launch a series of opportunistic bids for British businesses, a vehicle tracking the industry could soon be soon be swelling the ranks of London Stock Exchange. Investment bank Goldman Sachs is mulling a $5 billion listing of its private equity focused unit Petershill Partners.”

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