FTSE 100 makes small gains in choppy session
Joshua Raymond, Market Strategist at City Index commented: "The FTSE 100 made some small gains to finish in positive territory for a second day in a row, tracking a good opening in the US to recover earlier losses as investors firmly moved to put the Dubai debt concerns behind them.
It has been a fairly choppy trading session with investors starting to look towards the all important US jobs data on Friday. Investors had started the day in consolidation mode but as soon as the US markets opened higher, this gave European investors a little bit of confidence, and European equities quickly followed suit into positive territory.
Investors are now starting to focus towards the all important Non Farm Payroll data on Friday. ADP employment data today showed that the US private sector lost more jobs than first anticipated and therefore, investors may look to take some profits off the table as we run up to Fridays jobs announcement.
5400 target for FTSE
The Dubai debt fears now seem firmly behind the market and this is helping to free up moves to the upside. The key for the FTSE 100 is to break above the 5400 level and it is increasingly looking like investors are waiting for macroeconomic data to help dictate this move.
Miners lead
The miners have led for much of the day in London on the back of rallying Copper prices and Gold reaching a new record of $1,216.
The US Dollar remains severely weak and this is helping to keep demand high for metals and with Central Banks indicating a willingness to diversify into Gold purchases, investors are betting on further increases in the price of Gold.
Investor appetite remains high and this has benefitted the commodity driven equities today, with Lonmin and Kazakhmys rallying 3% and leading the gainers in London.
UK Banks
UK Banking shares were under pressure today with investors taking their lead from a cautious outlook from Credit Suisse on the sector which cited that UK banks were not cheap enough and that capital pressure are not necessarily over. As a result, we did see investors looking to exit their positions in banks before some speculative bargain hunting helped to finish the afternoons trading session."