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4.30pm: London lower

The FTSE 100 index closed 65.09 points lower at 7,836.71 as investors were warned to expect continued interest rate rises.

Soon after Wall Street opened, the Dow Jones Industrial Average had shed 164 points or 0.6%, with the S&P 500 index and the Nasdaq Composite both off 0.5%.   

7.30am: Dell joins jobs cull

Dell Technologies is expected to add to the tech jobs cull by cutting 6,650 jobs, or about 5% of its global workforce.

The firm is blamed a fall in demand for its personal computers, according to Bloomberg News.

It reported that co-chief operating officer Jeff Clarke wrote to employees stating that the company is experiencing market conditions that “continue to erode with an uncertain future”.

He added that the previous cost-cutting measures, including a pause on hiring and limits on travel, are no longer enough.

Global markets

Concern that surging job creation in the US will stoke inflation and demands for higher interest rates is likely to take the edge off equity markets.

US non-farm payrolls rose by 517,000 in January, almost double the 260,000 seen December. January’s outcome was well-ahead of the consensus of 185,000.

Wall Street reacted nervously to the jobs figures. The S&P 500 was down 1%, the Nasdaq Composite slid 1.6% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 0.4% lower.

In Asia today, the Nikkei 225 index closed up 0.7%. In China, the Shanghai Composite was down 0.9%, while the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong was down 2.3%.

The FTSE 100 index hit an all-time record on Friday boosted by strength in its preeminent dollar-earnings constituents as the US currency.

It closed 81.64 points higher at 7,901.80, above the previous closing high of 7,877.45 on 22 May 2018. It hit a new intra-day peak of 7,906.58.