Fed-up of the US markets seemingly reaching new highs every other day, the Footsie has got into the act.
The top-shares index closed at another closing high, up 28 at 7,724.
Utilities led the advance after some favourable broker comment. Centrica PLC (LON:CNA) climbed 3.1% and United Utilities Group PLC (LON:UU. rose 2.3%.
Regal Petroleum PLC (LON:RPT) was th day's biggest riser, soaring 83% to 14p after an upbeat report on its activities in Ukraine.
It's been another fairly uneventful day in London but the blue chips are, once again, edging higher.
The FTSE 100 hit a fresh peak (it feels like I've said that before this week...) of 7,727.7 as the clock struck 12pm today and is on track to record another record close.
The index is currently up 10.6 points, or 0.14%, to 7,706.8.
Leading the blue chips higher was British Gas owner Centrica PLC (LON:CAN) and water company United Utilities Group PLC (LON:UU.) (up 2% to 815.6p) after both were upgraded by Credit Suisse.
Analysts at the Swiss bank turned more bullish with their stance on the sector as a whole, stating that the worst case for UK domestic energy suppliers is now fully priced in, making the stocks relatively undervalued.
High street clothes retailer Next Plc (LON:NXT) was still in demand on the back of its surprisingly good Christmas update earlier in the week. The stock is up 2% to ?48.42 and has gained almost 8% over the week.
Associated British Foods plc (LON:ABF) was another retailer flying off the shelves, up 1.3% to ?28.77, as investors prepare for what they hope will be a good festive update in a couple of weeks' time.
Motor insurer Admiral PLC (LON:ADM) was the index's main laggard; down 3.2% to ?18.66 on the back of two bits of bad news.
First up was a double downgrade from heavyweight investment bank JP Morgan which moved the stock to 'underweight' from 'neutral' and also chopped its target price by 80p to ?19.
Analysts at the bank said it would be difficult for Admiral to improve its "industry-leading margins", while it also cautioned that the government's U-turn on the Ogden rate cuts and its proposed whiplash reforms will weigh on pricing in motor insurance.
The biggest mover on the second tier was defence contractor Ultra Electronics Holdings PLC (LON:ULE) which fell 6.6% to ?12.99 after it was downgraded by both JP Morgan and Berenberg.
The German broker's analysts pointed out that, following Ultra Electronics' November 2017 profit warning, CEO departure and Sparton acquisition delay, the shares de-rated by 38% to an eight-year low.
Since then, they added, the stock has now rallied by 20%, which they think creates "an opportunity to short into the forthcoming trading update."
Despite ULE's woes, the FTSE 250 actually followed the FTSE 100 to a new record high today and is currently up 0.36%, or 75.6 points, to 20,895.8.
Satellite services provider Inmarsat Plc (LON:ISAT) was the top mid-cap riser, up 4.8% to 491.7p.
US stocks have pushed further into record territory once again on Friday, despite the lacklustre growth in US jobs last month.
The Dow Jones broker through the 25,000 mark for the first time yesterday and it has continued to head north today - up 0.2% to 25,132.6.
The S&P 500 jumped 0.3% to 2,731.4 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq soared almost 0.5% higher to 7,110.8.
US President Donald Trump took to Twitter to bask in the glory of US stocks, claiming that it is his policies which are driving this record growth.
Dow goes from 18,589 on November 9, 2016, to 25,075 today, for a new all-time Record. Jumped 1000 points in last 5 weeks, Record fastest 1000 point move in history. This is all about the Make America Great Again agenda! Jobs, Jobs, Jobs. Six trillion dollars in value created!
- Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 5, 2018
Retailers, retailers and (you guessed it) more retailers...
Updates from UK food retailers on the menu, as well as high street stalwart M&S in coming week https://t.co/R65WjrkvPY #brighterir #AndrewScottTV #CapitalNetwork1 via @proactive_uk
- Proactive Investors (@proactive_uk) January 5, 2018
Ultra Electronics PLC (LON:ULE) was the biggest mid-cap casualty on Friday, knocked by price target downgrades from both German broker Berenberg and US banking giant JP Morgan.
In mid-afternoon trade, Ultra shares topped the FTSE 250 fallers list, down 6.4%, or 89p at ?13.01.
Berenberg cut its target for the defence contractor to 1,300p from 1,550p and reiterated a 'sell' rating on the stock noting a recent rally by the shares.
The German broker's analysts pointed out that, following Ultra Electronics' November 2017 profit warning, CEO departure and Sparton acquisition delay, the shares de-rated by 38% to an eight-year low.
Since then, they added, the stock has now rallied by 20%, which they think creates "an opportunity to short into the forthcoming trading update."
Today marks three years since HemoGenyx Pharmaceuticals PLC's (LON:HEMO) founder Dr Vladislav Sandler moved to Buffalo to start the company.
The anniversary throws up a good excuse to take a closer look at the science behind what the firm does...
Chemotherapy is capable of creating "super" cancer cells. This is one of the reasons why @HemoGenyx is developing a substitute for chemotherapy.https://t.co/p1ArMd7wG0
- HemoGenyx (@HemoGenyx) December 25, 2017
"As Donald Trump approaches a year in office, December's slightly disappointing nonfarm payroll reading isn't going to be enough to wipe the smile off his face," said UFX.com's managing director Dennis de Jong.
"The economy continues to outperform most of the world, while his historic GOP tax bill has seen his approval rating sore to its highest since July.
"Businesses and consumers are feeling confident to invest and spend respectively, which is likely to lead to many more hires in the next couple of months.
"It is understandable that the figures have dropped slightly, as the gains in October and November were tied into a number of states recovering from the severe hurricanes.
"The general outlook remains positive and I'm sure President Trump will be feeling typically bullish as he prepares to celebrate his anniversary."
The US economy added only 148,000 jobs in December, way below the 190,000 economists had expected.
The number crunchers had been moving their targets higher overnight on the back of the 250,000 figure quoted by ADP - the unofficial measure - on Thursday.
Still, it capped a steady year of job creation in the US where the unemployment rate ended the year at 4.1%, the lowest level since December 2000.
Worker pay nudged 2.5% higher last month as well compared to December 2016, while the average workweek remained flat at 34.5 hours.
#Euro near 3y high vs Dollar after mixed US jobs data: Disappointing 148k increase in payrolls, jobless rate steady at 4.1% and wages in line with forecasts are downward revision to November pay pic.twitter.com/40YODKyh7E
- Holger Zschaepitz (@Schuldensuehner) January 5, 2018
US stocks closed at a record high on Thursday and are expected to continue north at the open.
Dow Jones futures are up 82 points, the index having closed up 152 at 25,075 yesterday.
The S&P 500 is up eight points, while the Nasdaq is 25 points to the good.
In focus is the US non-farm payroll number, which is expected to come in at around 190,000 new jobs.
But the private sector ADP report earlier in the week showed 250,000, so expectations are high.
Inflation in the Eurozone, the 9-nation bloc slipped further to 1.4% from 1.5% in November, taking it further away from the ECB's target rate of close to 2%.
The pound was up 0.13% against the Euro at 1.1240 at the time of writing.
New car sales in the UK fell for the first time in six years in 2017, with demand for diesel cars plunging by almost a fifth, on tax fears and pollution worries.
It means dealers sold 2.54mln vehicles, down 5.7%, according to official stats.
Simon Benson, from AA, said: "Those who've been watching the industry closely won't be surprised by today's data, but this doesn't make the news any less of a cause for concern.
"December marks the ninth month of falling registrations since the VED changes came into force in April. Perhaps more disconcertingly, 2017 denotes the first annual downturn in new car sales since 2011.
But he added: "The market can give a small sigh of relief as these figures do show a significant uplift in interest in electric vehicles. Registrations of alternatively fuelled vehicles rose by more than a third in December to hit a record high."
Anna Nicholls, at Economist Intelligence Unit, added: "... consumer confidence is faltering: with incomes nearly stagnant and the outlook uncertain because of Brexit people are becoming less keen to take out credit.
"November's rise in interest rates didn't help, raising many people's mortgage payments and making the financing deals from dealers less attractive. A drop in PPI claims has also cut the number of people with one-off lump sums to spend."
It will come as no surprise to many that High Street sales declined for the fifth year in a row last month (December) underscoring the fact that UK consumers are under spending pressure.
Accountancy group BDO said its monthly High Street Sales Tracker (HSST) showed a 2.3% fall in like-for-like sales in December.
Sales in fashion fell 3.9% in the month, but homewares sales rose 2.5%.
The group said though all categories recorded year-on-year growth in the week to Christmas Eve after negative like-for-like sales in the first three weeks of the month, showing festive spending habits remain strong.
FTSE 100 is up over 25 points at 7,720.
FTSE 100 climbed to a new record high on Friday as investors await the US non-farm payroll report due at around 1.30pm.
The benchmark is at 7,711 at the time of writing, up around 15 points.
The new high comes as there is a bullish mood permeating markets as Wall Street shares have climbed higher every day of 2018 so far.
Yep, the FTSE 100 has hit a record high again https://t.co/A6Lg7mCGa0 pic.twitter.com/xhKNSzDrxH
- City A.M. (@CityAM) 5 January 2018Top riser was utility giant and defensive stock Centrica plc (LON:CNA), which added 1.83% to 144.40p after Credit Suisse said 'buy' the shares.
Insurers were taking a hit with Admiral Group PLC (LON:ADM) and Direct Line Insurance (LON: DLG) both in the red, with the former down 4.54% to 1,841p making it top loser on Footsie. Direct Line shed 0.87% to 363.30p. Admiral shares were hit after a downgrade from heavyweight broker JP Morgan.
It also comes as news emerged that new car sales in the UK fell for the first time in six years last year, with demand for diesel cars plunging by almost a fifth, on tax fears and pollution worries.
Attention is firmly on the US payrolls later, with whispers now circulating that the impressive ADP report yesterday could suggest the job creation figure could be nearer 200,000 than the consensus 190,000.
David Morrison, at gkf.com, said: "If payrolls were to come in around here then we should expect further stock market gains, even as the stronger data raises the likelihood of a faster rate of monetary tightening from the Fed than is currently factored in.
"Anything below 170,000 would be viewed as disappointing and could be dollar-negative, although it's unlikely to have much of an adverse effect on equities in the current bullish climate."
But he suggests the devil would be in the detail, notably on the average hourly earnings figure.
"These are expected to rise 0.3% from the previous month but have undershot forecasts for two months running now. This is a particular concern for the Fed as this lack of wage pressure makes it harder for the US central bank to hit its 2% inflation target."
The FTSE 100 got off to a subdued start with traders keeping their powder dry ahead of US jobs data later. The index of blue-chip shares rose just a point at 7,697.02.
The morning's early riser was Centrica (LON:CNA) following a Credit Suisse recommendation upgrade to 'buy' on stock in the owner of British Gas. The shares rose 2%.
Still reeling from the Debenhams (LON:DEB) profit warning on Thursday, Marks & Spencer (LON:MKS) was off a further 1%.
The start of year re-assessment has seen JP Morgan Cazenove, another of the City's big hitters, take aim at the insurance sector.
Down 3.4%, Admiral (LON:ADM) was hit by a downgrade to 'underweight' from 'neutral'. Dropping down to the FTSE 250, Lanacashire Holdings was a beneficiary of a JPMC upgrade as part of that sector rejig, pushing the shares 1.9% higher.
Kibo Mining PLC (LON:KIBO) told investors that it remains optimistic the memorandum of understanding (MOU) entered into for the Mbeya Coal to Power Project will be completed. It follows meetings during December in Tanzania, with the Ministry of Energy and the Tanzania Electric Supply Company.
Mporium Group PLC (LON:MPM) announced a commercial agreement for its IMPACT technology with leading media investment management company GroupM UK. The latter is the leading investment management company for giant WPP's media agencies including Mindshare and MediaCom and is responsible for more than US$108bn in annual media investment.
Europa Oil & Gas Holdings PLC (LON:EOG) and Union Jack Oil PLC (LON:UJO) were among the joint venture partners negatively impacted as the future of the Wressle oil project remains in doubt following a decision by the UK planning inspectorate.
Premier African Minerals Ltd (LON:PREM) is in talks over financing options for its RHA tungsten mine following December's output as it also updated on its plan to list the Zulu lithium project in London. The miner said that while throughput last month exceeded the target of 6,000 tonnes in feed, the ore processed was largely from on-strike development at a diluted grade insufficient to achieve planned profitable production.
Atlantis Resources PLC (LON:ARL), which is transforming into a diversified renewable energy company, is set to sell its 50% stake in its Canadian joint venture to partner DP Energy. The cash deal will allow Atlantis to focus on other opportunities in the UK, Europe and Asia, it said.
Cabot Energy PLC (LON:CAB) has revealed provisional results from the 10-32 sidetrack well in the Rainbow area, in Canada, where an oil flow rate of 344 barrels of oil per day has now been measured.
Life sciences group Abzena PLC (LON:ABZA) has moved into its new 30,000 square feet head office in Cambridge.
ReNeuron (LON:RENE) plans a share consolidation, which it hopes will improve the marketability and liquidity of the stock along with trading activity. The stem cell specialist said it wants to reduce its equity base by a factor of 100, which, based on Thursday's close of 1.825p, would push the price to 182.5p.
SkinBioTherapeutics PLC (LON:SBTX), a life science company focused on skin health, announced the appointment of Northland Capital Partners as the company's joint corporate broker, alongside Turner Pope Investments, with immediate effect.
Motif Bio PLC (LON:MFTB) (NASDAQ:MTFB), a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company specialising in developing novel antibiotics, announced today that it will participate in the Cantor Antibiotics Summit on January 17, 2018 at the Omni Berkshire Hotel in New York.
FTSE 100 is seen starting lower after US markets reached dizzying new heights yesterday and as attention turns to the key monthly jobs report across the pond.
The UK blue-chip index closed Thursday up around 24 points at 7,695, but spreadbetters at IG Index reckon it will kick off Friday nearly seven points lower.
It comes after another big rise on Wall Street overnight, which saw the Dow close up over 153 points at 25,075 - well above the 25,000 mark and the S&P 500 add almost 11.
Wall Street has risen every day of the new year and the bullish sentiment continued into Asian markets. The Nikkei 225 in Japan is up 207 points at the time of writing and the Shanghai Composite is up over six at 3,392.
With the US Central bank's latest meeting minutes showing a divide between policymakers over the pace of interest rate rises in 2018, the non-farms report later (due 1.30pm) is sure to be closely watched.
The report is expected to show employers added around 190,000 jobs last month (December) compared to 228,000 in November, with the unemployment rate steady at 4.1%.
Confidence on the figure has already been boosted by a strong ADP private sector report yesterday - always seen as a precursor to the main event.
That showed that 250,000 jobs were added in December against consensus of 190,000.
David Madden, at CMC Markets, noted however that the wage figure may be key: "The US has been steadily creating new jobs over the past few years, but wage growth has been sluggish.
"If the US economy wants to step up a gear in terms of economic growth, wage growth and in turn the spending levels will need to tick up."
Back to the UK, and new figures out showed new car sales last year dropped for the first time in six years. Diesel sales plunged 17% due to fears of higher taxes and pollution.
Final numbers are due to be published later and will be closely watched.
UK economic data: BRC shop price index, new car registrations, unit labour costs
International economic data: US non-farm payrolls, ISM composite PMI, Eurozone inflation, US durable goods orders, US Baker Hughes rig count