NEW YORK: U.K. stocks closed lower, after swinging between gains and losses, as better-than-forecast U.S. payrolls boosted the prospects for a Federal Reserve rate increase.
Commodity shares declined, outweighing a gain in lenders. Randgold Resources Ltd. and Fresnillo Plc followed precious-metal prices lower. BHP Billiton Ltd. lost 5.7 percent after dams burst at a Brazilian iron ore project owned by the company and Vale SA. HSBC Holdings Plc and Barclays Plc added 1.9 percent or more.
The FTSE 100 lost 0.2 percent at the close in London. After October data showed the biggest gains in U.S. payrolls this year, the equity gauge fluctuated between gains of as much as 0.5 percent and a drop of as much as 0.5 percent. The broader FTSE All-Share Index was also little changed today, while Ireland’s ISEQ Index advanced 1.1 percent.
Traders are now pricing in a 70 percent chance of a rate hike in December, up from about 56 percent earlier today.
Among shares active on corporate news, InterContinental Hotels Group Plc rallied 6.2 percent after people familiar with the matter said it’s exploring strategic options including a potential sale or merger. CRH Plc, the Irish building-material supplier that gets almost half its revenue from America, rose 3.8 percent in Dublin after the U.S. House passed a long-term highway funding plan.
