UK Market Advances

(RTTNews) - The UK market is trading higher on Friday, ahead of the key monthly jobs data from the U.S. Economists expect the economy to have added 200,000 jobs in December, with the unemployment rate expected to remain steady at 7.0 percent.

French industrial production returned to growth in November, and the rate of expansion exceeded economists' forecast, statistical office Insee said. Overall industrial production grew 1.5 percent on an annual basis in November, ending four months of successive declines. Economists expected output to rise 0.9 percent in November.

The U.K.'s industrial production remained unchanged in November compared with the previous month, the latest figures from the Office for National Statistics showed. Output increased by a revised 0.3 percent in October. Economists had forecast a 0.4 percent increase in November.

China's exports growth eased more than expected in December, while imports beat expectations signaling robust domestic demand, the latest figures released by the General Administration of Customs showed. As a result, the trade surplus missed forecast sharply at the end of the year.

The Euro Stoxx 50 index of eurozone bluechip stocks is adding 0.49 percent, while the Stoxx Europe 50 index, which includes some major U.K. companies, is rising 0.48 percent.

The FTSE 100 index is currently adding 0.88 percent.

Tullow Oil is gaining 4.5 percent. Glencore Xstrata and AMEC are adding 2.4 percent each.

JD Sports Fashion said its board believes that the Group remains on course to deliver headline profit before tax and exceptional items in line with current market view. The stock is falling 1.2 percent.

Barclays reduced Fresnillo to ''Equalweight'' from ''Overweight.'' The stock is falling 2 percent.

The Asian stocks ended mixed in cautious trading, as investors digested Chinese trade data and waited for cues from the U.S. jobs report.

In the U.S., futures point to a higher open on Wall Street. In the previous session, the Dow edged down 0.1 percent and the tech-heavy Nasdaq shed 0.2 percent, while the S&P 500 inched up marginally. Crude for February delivery is adding $0.75 to $92.41 per barrel, while gold is rising $2.9 to $1232.3 a troy ounce.