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London open: Stocks little changed as investors eye jobs data
Stocks in London were muted in early trade as investors awaited the release of UK jobs data.
At 0830 GMT, the FTSE 100 was down 0.1% to 6,786.17. Meanwhile, oil prices retreated. West Texas Intermediate was down 0.4% to $45.61 a barrel and Brent crude was 0.4% weaker at $46.77.
Spreadex‘s Connor Campbell said: “It was a quiet start to trading this Wednesday, with the FTSE and pound awaiting the results of the latest UK jobs report.
“Not that analysts are expecting much drama from the day’s data. Both the unemployment rate and wage growth readings are forecast to remain unchanged at 2.3% (though it could creep a bit higher to 2.4%) and 4.9% respectively; the jobless claims figure, on the other hand, is set to see a bit more movement, rising to 1.9k from the 0.7k seen the month previous.”
The UK claimant count, unemployment rate and average weekly earnings are at 0930 GMT. In the US, the producer price index is at 1330 GMT and industrial output is at 1415 GMT.
In corporate news, housebuilder Barratt Developments ticked lower after saying in a trading update that sales in July had risen by 4.3% but cautioning that the housing market was becoming more challenging.
Peer British Land also nudged lower as it posted higher profits for the first half of the year but said it expects to proceed more cautiously in property development as it noted a change in the behaviour of property markets since the Brexit vote.
ICAP edged down after it reported a drop in first-half trading profit.
On the upside, insurer Prudential ticked higher after reporting a 19% jump in new business profit in the first nine months of the year and saying it plans to boost its dividend by 5% a year.
Rolls-Royce gained ground after saying its outlook for 2016 remained unchanged for revenue, profit and cash. The aerospace and defence company said it would benefit from weaker sterling and life cycle cost reductions which would more than offset higher engineering and programme costs in its civil aerospace unit.
Temporary power provider Aggreko advanced as it said it expects full-year 2016 results to be broadly in line with current market expectations, with pre-exceptional profit before tax of around £225m.
Severn Trent ticked up after it agreed to buy water service provider Dee Valley Group for about £78.5m.
Shares in Morrisons were a little firmer after the supermarket said it was launching a store pick service with Amazon for its online customers.
Cranswick was in the black as the FTSE 250 food producer announced the acquisition of Northern Irish pork processing business Dunbia Ballymena for an undisclosed sum.
Great Portland Estates was also on the front foot after completing the sale of 73/89 Oxford Street and 1 Dean Street in London to Norwegian sovereign wealth fund Norges Bank Real Estate Management for £276.5m.
Anglo American was stronger after Goldman Sachs upped to the stock to ‘buy’ from ‘sell’, while Electrocomponents surged after HSBC raised its rating on the stock to ‘buy’.
