LONDON (AFP) – Leading shares in London closed lower on Friday after a much weaker-than-expected US jobs report added to growing concerns the US economic recovery is faltering.
The benchmark FTSE 100 index lost 0.62 percent to close at 5,332.39 points.
The US economy shed 131,000 jobs in July as private sector gains of 71,000 were offset by a government layoff of 143,000 temporary census-takers, with analysts warning that the labour market may take years to get back on its feet.
The markets had been expecting headline job losses in July of around 87,000.
Lloyds Banking Group (LBG) was the most traded stock, seeing 250 million shares switch owners, followed by Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), which saw 192 million units change hands.
British satellite communications company Inmarsat was the day's top blue-chip performer, adding 4 percent -- or 28.5 pence -- to end at 741.5.
It was followed by African Barrick Gold (ABG), a mining business operating in Tanzania, which rose 3.84 percent -- or 21 pence -- to end at 568.
Lonmin, a producer of platinum group metals based in South Africa, was the biggest faller of the session, shedding 5.06 percent -- or 83 pence -- to end at 1,557.
UK insurance giant Aviva was next in line, crashing back to earth following Thursday's table-topping performance to close down 3.2 percent -- or 12.6 pence -- at 381.7.
Meanwhile, the pound bounced back against the dollar while it slipped again against the euro.
At 17:20 BST, sterling was trading at 1.596 dollars, up from 1.586 dollars at the same time on Thursday, while the UK currency stood at 1.202 euros, down from 1.206 over the same period.