London stocks were a touch weaker by midday on Friday, with travel plays under the cosh after the government’s latest announcement, as investors eyed the US non-farm payrolls report.
The FTSE 100 was down 0.2% at 7,047.29.
Spreadex analyst Connor Campbell said: “Last month was a shocker, with the headline nonfarm figure coming in at just 266,000 against the near-1 million forecast. Yet it was a result that investors weren’t exactly unhappy with, given it may cause the Federal Reserve to reconsider any stimulus tapering talk.
“For May, however, signs are pointing to a rebound. The ADP nonfarm reading on Thursday shot past expectations, rising from 654,000 to 978,000, while jobless claims have been steady falling week-on-week, yesterday striking a pandemic-low of 385,000.
“Analysts’ estimates have the nonfarm number climbing to 645,000, with the unemployment rate falling from 6.1% to 5.9%. Average hourly earnings are, as ever, the one outlier, with expectations of 0.2% against the previous month’s 0.7%.
“Considering that nonfarm forecast lies somewhere between the levels expected last month, and the number produced last month, it will be interesting to see how investors react. It might hit that sweet spot – strong enough to point to a continuing recovery, but not strong enough to prompt any action from the Fed.”
The payrolls report, unemployment rate and average earnings are due at 1330 BST.
On home shores, a survey released earlier showed activity in the construction sector grew in May at the fastest rate in nearly seven years amid a record jump in new orders.
The IHS Markit/CIPS construction purchasing managers’ index rose to 64.2 61.6 in April, coming in ahead of consensus expectations of 62.3. A reading above 50.0 indicates growth, while a reading below signals contraction.
The survey found that new order volumes increased at the fastest pace since the survey began just over 24 years ago. Housebuilding was the best-performing category, with the index for that rising to 66.3 from 61.2, followed by commercial work, the index for which ticked up to 64.4 in May from 62.2 in April.
In equity markets, British Airways owner IAG, engine maker Rolls-Royce, and budget airlines easyJet and Wizz Air were among the worst performers following disappointment over the government’s updated travel list. No new countries were added to the ‘safe’ green list on Thursday, while Portugal was moved from green to amber.
Doorstep lender Provident Financial was knocked lower by a rating downgrade at Peel Hunt.
Packaging group Smurfit Kappa fell after agreeing to buy Peruvian packaging company Cartones del Pacifico in Peru for an undisclosed sum.
ContourGlobal lost ground after saying it has agreed, in partnership with Energy Infrastructure Partners, to buy Green Hunter Group, a portfolio of Solar Photovoltaic (Solar PV) assets in Italy totalling 18 MW for 49.7m.
Market Movers
FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,047.29 -0.24%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 22,776.78 -0.11%
techMARK (TASX) 4,356.82 -0.17%
FTSE 100 – Risers
Entain (ENT) 1,722.50p 1.41%
Royal Mail (RMG) 598.20p 1.29%
Renishaw (RSW) 5,495.00p 1.01%
Reckitt Benckiser Group (RKT) 6,463.00p 0.91%
Ocado Group (OCDO) 1,843.00p 0.79%
Aveva Group (AVV) 3,465.00p 0.70%
Standard Life Aberdeen (SLA) 280.30p 0.68%
Anglo American (AAL) 3,222.50p 0.67%
Whitbread (WTB) 3,215.00p 0.66%
Flutter Entertainment (CDI) (FLTR) 13,145.00p 0.65%
FTSE 100 – Fallers
Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 106.36p -3.03%
Bunzl (BNZL) 2,268.00p -1.86%
Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) 265.90p -1.45%
Weir Group (WEIR) 1,921.50p -1.39%
Polymetal International (POLY) 1,666.00p -1.27%
Fresnillo (FRES) 854.60p -1.27%
Hargreaves Lansdown (HL.) 1,635.50p -1.27%
Legal & General Group (LGEN) 280.20p -1.23%
Pershing Square Holdings Ltd NPV (PSH) 2,580.00p -1.15%
Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 48.99p -1.14%
FTSE 250 – Risers
Premier Foods (PFD) 111.00p 4.13%
Tullow Oil (TLW) 60.94p 3.08%
Marshalls (MSLH) 731.00p 2.67%
Workspace Group (WKP) 904.00p 2.38%
Syncona Limited NPV (SYNC) 217.50p 1.87%
4Imprint Group (FOUR) 2,935.00p 1.73%
Helios Towers (HTWS) 177.80p 1.60%
Elementis (ELM) 159.20p 1.53%
Playtech (PTEC) 469.00p 1.52%
Ibstock (IBST) 229.60p 1.50%
FTSE 250 – Fallers
Wizz Air Holdings (WIZZ) 4,527.00p -3.39%
Provident Financial (PFG) 235.60p -3.36%
Oxford Instruments (OXIG) 2,065.00p -3.05%
Coats Group (COA) 65.60p -2.96%
Just Group (JUST) 103.60p -2.91%
Vectura Group (VEC) 139.20p -1.97%
PureTech Health (PRTC) 382.00p -1.93%
Redrow (RDW) 673.40p -1.92%
Volution Group (FAN) 424.50p -1.85%
Games Workshop Group (GAW) 11,710.00p -1.76%
