The FTSE 100 carved out minor gains on Friday as the market digested the latest instalment of US jobs data.

The FTSE 100 was up 0.45% in mid afternoon trading on Friday following the release of the Non-Farm Payrolls which heavily missed expectations. However, the FTSE fell into the close but hang on to weekly gains.

Economist estimates of 550,000 jobs added in November proved to be significantly more than the actual reading of 210,000.

November payrolls 210K, Exp. 550K

There go the Fed’s accelerated tapering plans

— zerohedge (@zerohedge) December 3, 2021

The initial market reaction saw UK equities fall, only to be quickly bought into by traders looking forward to what the data means for the Federal Reserve and their pace of tapering.

US equities were choppy as the weak jobs reading cast doubts on the Fed’s recent hints at a faster pace of bond purchase tapering.

The headline figures was a major disappointment in what was otherwise a strong report that saw the unemployment rate fall and prior reports revised higher. US unemployment fell to 4.2% vs expectations of 4.6%.

The market will now await the Fed’s meeting 14th & 15th December and their decision on tapering.

We’ve added 1.1M jobs in the last 3 months and are now 3.9M jobs short of Feb 2020 level. Omicron is the big question mark going forward. pic.twitter.com/nMVe9cHeVW

— Steven Rattner (@SteveRattner) December 3, 2021

However, with the discovery of the Omicron variant, the decision to taper is not a one dimensional assessment of the jobs market, but a careful consideration of economic health with soaring inflation and the unknown impact of Omicron.

Despite the uncertainty, markets remained little changed on Friday with the FTSE 100 holding onto the rebound from last week’s selling.

Beowulf Mining shares continues a sharp move to the upside on Friday as investors reacted to comments from the new Swedish Prime Minister about the need for more mines in Sweden.

Beowulf Mining is awaiting the resolution of an application for a concession at the Kallak iron ore resource in Sweden and the positive comments from the new prime minister have raised hopes it may finally be wrapped up.

Beowulf have invested heavily in the Kallak project but have been faced with resistance from local Sami indigenous peoples who claim mining activity will harm their way of life, which includes reindeer herding.

The Kallak project is 30 miles away from a UNESCO World Heritage Site and there have been recommendations revise the mining plan to help protect the site.

Having dragged on for 7 years, Beowulf investors are now hoping Sweden will grant their wishes and enable mining activity to progress.

Beowulf Mining shares rose over 34% in early trade on Friday.

In light of the positive comments from the prime minister, Beowulf CEO Kurt Budge wrote to Sweden’s Minister of Enterprise and Innovation, Karl-Petter Thorwaldsson, urging the Swedish government to consider their application and the economic benefits for the area.

“Fossil-free steel making in Sweden is in the ascendency.  Yet when it comes to permitting, there is no visible understanding exhibited by authorities or the Government that steel plants need sustainably produced high quality iron ore, like Kallak’s market-leading 71.5 per cent magnetite iron concentrate, and that competitive sources of supply, alternatives to the state iron ore company LKAB, are positive dynamics for developers and investors,” Beowulf CEO Kurt Budge said in the letter.

“Jokkmokk desperately needs investment and jobs. Kallak will bring billions of SEK in investment and hundreds of jobs to the municipality that will keep people employed and support families for decades.”

“The application you have on your desk is for Kallak North.  Yet the Company has continued to invest, explore and assess the potential in the Kallak area, and our licences indicate iron ore mineralisation that could support mining for 30-40 years. More than doubling the current estimated life of Kallak North.”

Duke Royalty has realised half year results and posted a very respectable 78% increase in cash revenue for the period.

Revenue rose to £7.8 million in the six months to 30th September 2021, up from £4.4 million in the same period last year.

The jump in revenue helped net profit for the period rise to £6.2 million.

Having raised £35m this year, Duke Royalty have deployed £23m in three new royalties and say they still have £55m in liquidity for deployment in future royalties.

“This has been a very successful half year, characterised by substantial cashflow growth and accelerating investment deployment. Cash revenue is up 78% from the prior period to £7.8 million, and we have delivered a 58% increase in free cashflow to £4.6 million,” said Neil Johnson, CEO of Duke Royalty.

“This positive performance has been driven mainly by our team’s rapid execution of new royalty agreements which has seen us invest over £23 million into three new royalty partners during the period.”

“This strong trading performance makes me confident that Duke will exceed the market’s expectations for the 12 months ended 31 March 2022. Since the resumption of its cash dividend, Duke has increased its dividend payment from 0.50 pence per share to 0.55 pence per share, with the prospect of higher dividend payments for shareholders in the future.

“This growth will be supported by entering into new royalty agreements and I am pleased to report that our pipeline is the strongest in our history. We expect to announce a range of new deployments in the coming weeks and months.”

Cellular Goods have dropped for a second day in a row after the CBD company launched their inaugural product ranges and ecommerce platform.

Cellular Goods shares gave up another 11% on Thursday morning as the market continued to react to the announcement by selling shares.

The David Beckham-backed CBD company floated at 5p in February and exploded higher in a heavily oversubscribed IPO. Shares traded as high as 28p in Cellular Good’s early days as a listed company.

Since then, shares steadily have declined touching lows around 6p, before staging a rally into the product launch announcement.

The product launch has wiped off over 20% of the company’s value in two trading sessions as investors either sell on a ‘buy the rumour, sell the fact’ move, or are simply disappointed with the new products, and are voting with their feet.

Either way, Cellular Goods still has a valuation of £40.1m and have only just started generating revenue in a highly competitive CBD market with a number of established brands.

Alexis Abraham, Chief Executive of Cellular Goods, commented:

“Today is a major milestone for the Company with the launch of the UK’s first CBG skincare products on a best-in-class ecommerce platform. Leading with CBG sets us apart from the competition, and to also be able to offer consumers CBD ingestibles at the same time delivers on our vision to become the first true cannabinoid company.

“We have taken less than a year from a standing start to put Cellular Goods at the forefront of the cannabinoid and wellness industries, and as of today, we have started a new chapter in our growth by entering a revenue-generating phase. Consumers are now familiar with CBD, and we believe there is a substantial and growing demand for a more innovative and premium brand offering clean, green, and compliant products and look forward to delivering on our potential.”

Digitalbox (LON:DBOX) shares jumped 50% on Thursday morning as the group said profit was going to be ‘significantly ahead of the most recently upgraded market consensus of £700k EBITDA’.

Digitalbox also said revenue was expected to be not less than £3.3m.

Digitalbox owns and operates three brands in Entertainment Daily, The Daily Mash and The Tab. The company said they had enjoyed the benefits of increased mobile advertising driven by highs levels of traffic.

The higher levels of traffic was attributed to seasonal coverage of shows such as Strictly Come Dancing and I’m A Celebrity, as well as content focused on the record breaking Squid Game.

Digitalbox shares were trading at 10.5p, up 50%, at 10.00am in London. The company has a market cap of £12m.