London's FTSE 100 Climbs 0.4 Percent to 10,505 as Miners Lead and Softer US Jobs Cool Rate-Hike Bets

LONDON — Britain's FTSE 100 rose 0.4 percent on Monday, steadying after its worst week since April, as mining shares gained and a weak U.S. jobs report cooled bets on a Federal Reserve increase this month.

The index stood at 10,505.03 in midafternoon, up 43.08 points, or 0.41 percent, from Friday's close of 10,461.95. The day's range was 10,451.73 to 10,527.46. At 10:18 a.m. London time it was up 0.19 percent at 10,481.20. By late morning it was near 10,487. The midcap FTSE 250 was lower in the morning, down 0.32 percent at 24,114.77.

The lead was Friday's U.S. payrolls figure, which came in well short of forecasts and lifted Wall Street into the weekend. London took the same reading: weaker data as a reason for the Fed to hold. Oil, the other weight on the index last week, was choppy rather than surging. Brent traded around $102 a barrel, down slightly at some screens and up at others, after Middle East exports rose and the Group of Seven pledged extra supply.

"The non-farm payrolls number was a long way short of expectations, but in a looking-glass world where weak economic data could mean relief on the rate hike front this has been taken positively by investors," Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell, said.

Precious-metal miners rose 0.55 percent as spot gold gained about 0.35 percent and silver about 2 percent. Ithaca Energy was the morning's top FTSE 100 gainer, up 3.5 percent, after agreeing to buy Suncor Energy's offshore oil assets off Newfoundland and Labrador. Reuters put the upfront cash at $842 million. Other reports put the deal at up to $1.1 billion. "The industry has consistently bemoaned the tinkering in the fiscal and regulatory set-up for oil and gas in the UK and this deal for Canadian assets provides a level of diversification," Mould said.

BT Group rose after saying it would buy TalkTalk out of administration on a debt-free basis, a deal described as having an estimated £400 million cash impact. Entain led some later gainers, up about 1.8 percent. 3i Group was the main faller, down about 4.2 percent to its lowest since late June.

The services sector did not spoil the session. The final UK services purchasing managers' index was revised to 52.1 from a preliminary 51.7, and the composite reading rose to 52.0, still above the 50 line that separates expansion from contraction. A separate survey found stronger cost pressures at services firms as fuel prices rose with the Middle East conflict. Traders were pricing a nearly 95 percent chance of a Bank of England rate increase in November, LSEG data showed. The Fed hold that helped London on Monday is not the same bet as the Bank's next meeting.

Oil is the part that can take the gain back. G7 leaders agreed to release 100 million barrels of crude and diesel over four months. The International Energy Agency has said members have so far released about 325 million of 400 million barrels pledged in March. Yemen's Saudi-backed government has launched an offensive against Iran-backed Houthis, whose hold on the Bab el-Mandeb has kept tanker risk in the price. UKMTO has reported at least one tanker attack a day since Oct. 2. A market that rose because oil "stayed in check" is a market that needs oil to keep doing that.

Monday's 0.4 percent is a repair, not a reversal of last week's drop. Miners did the lifting. Ithaca's Canada deal and BT's TalkTalk purchase were the stock-specific bids. The macro bid was a soft U.S. jobs number read as a stay for the Fed. The Bank of England is still priced for a hike in November, and the strait is still a risk. The index finished the morning above 10,500. It has not left the week's damage behind.