A low increase in the US non-farm payroll report for September, accompanied by benign details on average earnings, ignited Wall Street and put the finishing touches to a splendid week for London equities. All the main indices raced to new closing highs.
The US employment news saw US Treasury bonds erupt, taking gilts with them. At the close, the 20-year gilt was up around 1 3/4 points, boosted too by comment attributed to Mr Peter Mandelson, Britain's Minister without portfolio, who said entry by Britain into the first wave of EMU "has not been ruled out".
But it was by no means plain sailing for British equities which, earlier in the session, had to endure bouts of relatively heavy selling, principally in the financial sectors which responded negatively to the news that Barclays Bank is finally, after months of intense speculation, divesting itself of much of its BZW investment banking arm.
The FTSE 100 was left with a gain of 34.7 at a new closing high of 5,330.8.
The FTSE Mid-250 finished 22.6 ahead at a peak of 4,883.9, having touched an intra-day high of 4,884.1, while the FTSE AllShare index ended the day 15.1 up at 2,492.41, after briefly topping 2,500 for the first time and peaking at 2,502.98.
Over the week, the FTSE 100 has risen 104.5, or 2 per cent, outpacing the FTSE Mid-250, which has moved up 74.8, or 1.5 per cent. The SmallCap is up 39.67, or 1.7 per cent. The FTSE All-Share has climbed 46.55, or 2 per cent.
