FTSE 100 falls by 1.05 pct on house builders drops

FTSE 100 Index, the British benchmark stock market gauge, Friday fell by 1.05 percent, or 68.82 points, to 6,501.14 points, as the big drop of housing stocks dragging down the blue chip index.

It was a packed data released Friday. U.S. jobs report showed that the country's non-farm payrolls increased by 252,000 in December 2014 from revised 353,000 in November, while jobless rate fell from 5.8 percent to 5.6 percent, its lowest level since June 2008.

Data also showed that British industrial production unexpectedly declined by 0.1 percent in November 2014. At the same time, British trade deficit shrank more than expected to 1.4 billion pounds (or 2.1 billion U.S. dollars) in November.

On the same day, investment company Jefferies cut its recommendations for housing sector of Britain, sending the shares concerned lower.

House builder Taylor Wimpey led the top losers of the blue chips with a share price drop of 5.35 percent, followed by Persimmon (5.20 percent), Barratt Developments (5.12 percent), WM Morrison Supermarkets (4.55 percent) and Sainsbury (4.20 percent).

While ITV's share price increased by 1.91 percent, topping the gainers of the blue chips. Friends Life, Aviva, Johnson Matthey and Pearson increased by 1.81 percent, 1.49 percent, 1.45 percent and 1.20 percent respectively.

Trading in FTSE 100 companies Friday was around 24 percent above the 30-day average. The index has lost 0.98 percent so far this year in U.S. dollar term. Endit