US jobs data drives FTSE 100 up

Improved unemployment data in the US has bolstered gains in London as banking stocks continued to move higher.

Wall Street’s Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.1% after the US Labor department revealed benefit claims dropped last week to 421,000 to the second-lowest level this year.

The positive sentiment rippled across the Atlantic, where the FTSE 100 Index rose 25 points to 5819.9, led by Britain’s banks.

The Bank of England’s widely-expected decision to leave interest rates unchanged at 0.5% and quantitative easing at £200 billion had little impact.

Barclays moved ahead 10.4p to 274.5p, while part-nationalised banks Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds lifted 1.7p to 42.6p and 1.2p to 68.8p respectively.

Standard Chartered bucked the trend and slipped more than 4% as the bank confirmed its net interest margin had eased and that cost growth was likely to outpace revenue growth.

Shares were down 80p to 1798p despite Standard reassuring investors it was on track to achieve record results in 2010.

Investor attentions were also focused on the latest house price data from Halifax.

The lending giant said property prices fell 0.1% during November, but added there were signs the housing market was stabilising – providing a boost to housebuilding stocks.

Bellway rose 6% or 37p to 653p, Persimmon lifted 18.2p to 428.5 and Barratt Developments added 2.2p to 88.9p in the FTSE 250.