London stocks ended the day lower on Tuesday, held back by a firmer pound after the latest UK jobs data reinforced rate hike expectations.
The FTSE 100 closed down 0.3% at 7,326.97.
Earlier, data from the Office for National Statistics showed the unemployment rate fell again in September, while the number of workers on payrolls rose despite the end of the furlough scheme. The number of workers on payrolls rose 0.6%, or by 160,000 between September and October to 29.3m.
Sam Beckett, ONS head of economic statistics, said: “It might take a few months to see the full impact of furlough coming to an end, as people who lost their jobs at the end of September could still be receiving redundancy pay.
“However, October’s early estimate shows the number of people on the payroll rose strongly on the month and stands well above its pre-pandemic level.”
Meanwhile, the unemployment rate fell to 4.3% in the three months to September from 4.5% in August, coming in slightly below consensus expectations of 4.4%.
Barclays said: “The labour market recovery had gained strong momentum ahead of the end of the furlough scheme, and did not appear to be heavily impacted when the scheme ended.
“Low unemployment, a pick-up in job mobility and ongoing job creation support our view that the MPC will hike rates by 15 basis points in December.”
In equity markets, pharmaceuticals giant AstraZeneca was the worst performer. CMC Markets analyst Michael Hewson suggested that “weakness could be because of today’s announcement by Pfizer that would let generic drug makers produce cheap versions of its new Covid-19 pill for lower income nations”.
Plastic pipe maker Genuit fell after it said operating margins in the second half would be lower due to the impact of inflationary pressures, as it maintained full-year guidance.
Premier Foods slumped as the Mr Kipling and Oxo owner reported a decline in first-half profit and revenue as the benefit of lockdowns faded, with people eating out more as restrictions were lifted.
On the upside, Vodafone rallied as it lifted earnings and cash-flow guidance after reporting a rise in first-half adjusted core profits.
Land Securities gained after saying it swung back to a profit in the first half following a recovery in the Central London office market. Peer British Land was also higher.
Drinks group Diageo was on the rise after raising its medium-term sales growth guidance, driven by market share across its operating regions.
Restaurant Group surged as it upped its full-year earnings expectations following like-for-like sales outperformance versus the market across its Wagamama, pubs and leisure businesses.
Homeserve traded up as it lifted its dividend and posted a jump in interim profit and revenue thanks to a strong performance in North America and Continental Europe and from its Home Experts business.
Market Movers
FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,326.97 -0.34%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 23,539.71 -0.35%
techMARK (TASX) 4,575.75 -0.69%
FTSE 100 – Risers
Vodafone Group (VOD) 117.92p 4.82%
Land Securities Group (LAND) 736.40p 3.69%
British Land Company (BLND) 533.40p 3.09%
Aveva Group (AVV) 3,361.00p 2.94%
Intertek Group (ITRK) 5,264.00p 2.69%
NATWEST GROUP PLC ORD 100P (NWG) 223.50p 1.78%
Royal Dutch Shell ‘A’ (RDSA) 1,700.80p 1.46%
Diageo (DGE) 3,872.00p 1.44%
Royal Dutch Shell ‘B’ (RDSB) 1,704.20p 1.39%
Intermediate Capital Group (ICP) 2,379.00p 1.36%
FTSE 100 – Fallers
AstraZeneca (AZN) 8,602.00p -4.08%
Darktrace (DARK) 545.50p -4.05%
Associated British Foods (ABF) 1,975.00p -2.32%
Sage Group (SGE) 733.00p -2.16%
GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) 1,558.00p -1.85%
Flutter Entertainment (CDI) (FLTR) 11,900.00p -1.82%
Imperial Brands (IMB) 1,569.00p -1.81%
Severn Trent (SVT) 2,777.00p -1.59%
United Utilities Group (UU.) 1,054.50p -1.49%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 1,438.50p -1.47%
FTSE 250 – Risers
Restaurant Group (RTN) 92.60p 16.77%
Homeserve (HSV) 917.50p 7.12%
Harbour Energy (HBR) 385.00p 5.13%
Domino’s Pizza Group (DOM) 376.20p 2.79%
Energean (ENOG) 910.50p 2.77%
Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings (AML) 1,656.50p 2.73%
Bridgepoint Group (Reg S) (BPT) 565.00p 2.73%
Syncona Limited NPV (SYNC) 207.50p 2.72%
Oxford Instruments (OXIG) 2,320.00p 2.65%
Wood Group (John) (WG.) 204.90p 2.60%
FTSE 250 – Fallers
Genuit Group (GEN) 600.00p -5.81%
Cineworld Group (CINE) 63.18p -5.70%
Reach (RCH) 313.00p -5.01%
Premier Foods (PFD) 109.20p -4.38%
AO World (AO.) 128.20p -4.33%
Just Group (JUST) 87.20p -3.38%
Vesuvius (VSVS) 461.00p -3.27%
Kainos Group (KNOS) 1,801.00p -3.22%
Petropavlovsk (POG) 23.20p -3.17%
4Imprint Group (FOUR) 2,905.00p -3.01%
