Private wealth investors await US payrolls data

Both the FTSE 100 and the value of sterling have risen this morning ahead of the release of non-farms payroll data for May in the US.

The figures are expected to be positive, with a poll conducted by Reuters forecasting 513,000 jobs will have been created in the country last month.

And this has had a positive effect on sterling, as the statistics are likely to indicate the US economy is continuing to recover, boosting demand for riskier currencies such as the pound and the euro.

According to Reuters, the British currency was 0.2 per cent higher against its US counterpart by 08:47 BST, putting it on $1.4635.

The FTSE 100 also performed strongly in the morning session, with shares in BP rising as the oil giant carried out its latest attempt to stop the spill currently taking place in the Gulf of Mexico.

Its stock was up 3.44 per cent to 447.1p by 12:07, with the index as a whole rising 0.15 per cent to 5,219.23 points.ADNFCR-2318-ID-19818492-ADNFCR