Sector movers: UK stocks caught up in volatility storm

UK stocks ended the week on a down note as a volatility storm hit equities around the world after another softer-than-expected reading on America's labour market.

According to the US Department of Labor, non-farm payrolls grew by 114,000 in July.

That was less than the 120,000 or so thought to be compatible with inflation running at the Federal Reserve's 2.0% target and comfortably below the 185,000 forecast by economists.

Some economists believed that hurricane Beryl, which made landfall in Texas during the survey week, might explain some of the weakness, regardless of Labor having apparently indicated otherwise.

But the data was worrying enough for a swathe of Wall Street's top banks to rush to mark up their forecasts for rate cuts in the US in 2024.

Indeed, Citi and JP Morgan moved to predicting two 50 basis point cuts before 2024 was out.

Also worth noting, at one point in the US session the Chicago Board of Options Exchange VIX index, which many in market label Wall Street's 'fear gauge' jumped by approximately 50% at one point during the session.

That is by all accounts a very unusual move which would appear to show that many of what traders were still around in August were caught on the hop by Friday's jobs numbers.

Top performing sectors so far today

Electricity 11,600.22 +1.43%

Gas, Water & Multiutilities 6,162.32 +1.43%

Pharmaceuticals & Biotechnology 23,410.77 +1.26%

Personal Care, Drug and Grocery Stores 4,431.81 +0.67%

Alternative Energy 0.00 0.00%

Bottom performing sectors so far today

Industrial Transportation 3,906.68 -4.83%

Personal Goods 11,702.19 -4.82%

Automobiles & Parts 1,009.14 -4.28%

Closed End Investments 11,880.52 -3.73%

Industrial Engineering 12,846.48 -3.71%