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London open: Stocks nudge up as investors await non-farm payrolls
London stocks nudged a touch higher in early trade on Friday as investors eyed the latest non-farm payrolls report out of the US, with little in the way of UK corporate or economic news flow to move markets.
At 0830 GMT, the 100 was up 0.1% to 7,699.46, while the pound was flat against the dollar at 1.3551 and 0.1% firmer versus the euro at 1.1239.
On Thursday, the Dow Jones breached the 25,000 level and the S&P 500 and Nasdaq also racked up strong gains, while the FTSE 100 closed at 7,695.88, having hit a new intraday peak just above 7,700.
Spreadex analyst Connor Campbell said: “The FTSE does currently lack the spark to take it across the 7,700 with any kind of permanence. An initial 10 point rise did briefly lead the index above that landmark level, but it needs something more substantial to work with if it is to stay there.”
The main focus will be the payrolls release, especially after the ADP report on Thursday blew past expectations. It showed the private sector in the US added 225,000 jobs last months versus 185,000 in November, a figure that was revised down from 190,000. Economists had been expecting an unchanged reading.
CMC Markets analyst David Madden said traders are anticipating 190,000, and that compares with the 228,000 jobs that were added in November, while unemployment is expected to hold steady at 4.1%. Meanwhile, on a month-on-month basis, average earnings are tipped to increase by 0.3% and on an annual basis they are expected to rise by 2.5%.
“The US has been steadily creating new jobs over the past few years, but wage growth has been sluggish. If the US economy wants to step up a gear in terms of economic growth, wage growth and in turn the spending levels will need to tick up,” Madden said.
The payrolls report is scheduled for release at 1330 GMT, along with the unemployment rate. There are no UK data releases of note due.
In corporate news, budget airline EasyJet flew higher as it reported a 5.5% year-on-year increase in passengers for December to 5.88m. The load factor was up to 91.4% from 89.9%. Cancellations rose to 580 from 330 a year earlier, largely due to adverse weather conditions causing around 400 and runway closures making up the majority of the rest along with industrial action.
Shipping broker Clarkson edged down after saying it expects full year results for 2017 to be in line with current views. In a brutally short statement, the FTSE 250 group confirmed results for the calendar year will be released on 12 March 2018.
In an otherwise quiet session, broker notes provided some much needed action. Centrica and United Utilities were boosted by upgrades from Credit Suisse, while Anglo American was higher after an upgrade at Jefferies.
Bookie William Hill was in the black following an upgrade to ‘buy’ at Canaccord.
On the downside, Ultra Electronics slumped as Berenberg reiterated its ‘sell’ rating on the stock following a 20% rally and following news of a delay to the UK defence review.
Insurer Admiral was hit by a downgrade to ‘underweight’ at JPMorgan, while recruiter Pagegroup retreated following a downgrade by Morgan Stanley and Vectura was knocked by a downgrade from Shore Capital.
