London stocks were still little changed by midday on Friday as traders kept their powder dry ahead of the latest US non-farm payrolls report.
The FTSE 100 was up 0.1% at 7,126.46.
Commenting on the payrolls, CMC Markets analyst Michael Hewson said: “Consensus expectations are for 870k new jobs to be added in July, having come down from 925k just over a week ago, with a range of expectations between 350k at the low end to 1.6m on the optimistic side. That’s a spread and a half, good luck trying to pick the bones out of that.
“On the plus side, if we do get a move higher in the participation rate to 61.8%, as forecasts suggest, that might be a small step in the right direction and offer some comfort to central bank officials that normality is slowly returning. The only obstacle to that is that infection rates are rising again in some US states which means that the incentives to return to the work force might get delayed a little bit further.”
On home shores, the latest survey from Halifax showed that annual house price growth eased in July, hitting its lowest level since March.
House prices rose 7.6% on the year, down from 8.7% in June. On the month, however, prices ticked up 0.4% in July to £261,221, having fallen 0.6% the month before.
Russell Galley, Managing Director, Halifax, said the annual easing was somewhat expected given the strength of price inflation seen last summer, as the market began its recovery from the first lockdown, and with activity supported by the start of the stamp duty holiday.
“Recent months have been characterised by historically high volumes of buyer activity, with June the busiest month for mortgage completions since 2008. This has been fuelled both by the ‘race for space’ and the time-limited stamp duty break,” he said.
“With the latter now entering its final stages (the zero percent rate only applies to the first £250,000 of the purchase price, before reverting back to standard rates from October), buyer activity should continue to ease over the coming months, and a steadier period for the market may lie ahead.”
In equity markets, Morrisons rallied after it agreed to a raised takeover offer of £6.7bn from a consortium led by Fortress Group.
London Stock Exchange Group was the standout gainer on the FTSE 100 after it more than doubled profits in the first half the year as total income grew 4.6%. The company said adjusted pre-tax profits came in at £1.03bn from £435m a year ago. Adjusted operating expenses grew 1.1% and £77m in synergies had been achieved from the acquisition of Refinitiv.
Cairn Energy surged as it edged closer to receiving $1.7bn in compensation as part of a long-running tax dispute with the Indian government.
On the downside, Hikma Pharmaceuticals fell despite upgrading the full-year outlook for its generics arm and reporting a rise in first-half profit and revenue as it hailed a strong performance in both the generics and branded segments, and resilience in the injectables business.
Market Movers
FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,126.46 0.08%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 23,447.48 -0.25%
techMARK (TASX) 4,626.85 -0.21%
FTSE 100 – Risers
London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) 7,826.00p 4.79%
Prudential (PRU) 1,425.00p 2.55%
Flutter Entertainment (CDI) (FLTR) 12,660.00p 2.43%
Evraz (EVR) 615.20p 2.36%
Entain (ENT) 1,965.50p 1.50%
Pershing Square Holdings Ltd NPV (PSH) 2,580.00p 1.38%
SSE (SSE) 1,538.00p 1.18%
Glencore (GLEN) 327.50p 1.08%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 1,522.50p 1.03%
Anglo American (AAL) 3,303.50p 1.01%
FTSE 100 – Fallers
Hikma Pharmaceuticals (HIK) 2,491.00p -5.72%
Kingfisher (KGF) 358.00p -3.22%
Smurfit Kappa Group (CDI) (SKG) 3,999.00p -2.39%
Mondi (MNDI) 2,027.00p -1.98%
Rightmove (RMV) 715.00p -1.95%
International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 174.90p -1.74%
Rentokil Initial (RTO) 557.20p -1.66%
Auto Trader Group (AUTO) 644.20p -1.44%
Experian (EXPN) 3,181.00p -1.43%
SEGRO (SGRO) 1,251.50p -1.38%
FTSE 250 – Risers
Cairn Energy (CNE) 173.00p 9.15%
Morrison (Wm) Supermarkets (MRW) 278.00p 2.21%
Harbour Energy (HBR) 349.00p 2.20%
Capita (CPI) 36.77p 2.17%
Babcock International Group (BAB) 284.60p 1.35%
Trustpilot Group (TRST) 395.00p 1.28%
Centrica (CNA) 48.60p 1.25%
FirstGroup (FGP) 89.95p 1.24%
Contour Global (GLO) 198.40p 1.22%
888 Holdings (888) 387.60p 1.20%
FTSE 250 – Fallers
Frasers Group (FRAS) 587.50p -4.24%
Savills (SVS) 1,203.00p -3.76%
SSP Group (SSPG) 245.10p -3.16%
Synthomer (SYNT) 522.00p -3.06%
Restaurant Group (RTN) 116.60p -3.00%
Ashmore Group (ASHM) 384.20p -2.73%
Mitchells & Butlers (MAB) 276.20p -2.47%
Micro Focus International (MCRO) 409.70p -1.99%
Oxford Instruments (OXIG) 2,525.00p -1.94%
Liontrust Asset Management (LIO) 2,120.00p -1.85%
