London stocks were set to edge lower at the open on Friday as investors eyed the latest US non-farm payrolls report.
The FTSE 100 was called to open down 12 points at 7,5014.
Consensus expectations are for a 490,000 increase in payrolls in March from February but Oxford Economics is more optimistic, pencilling in a jump of 550,000. It expects the unemployment rate to have ticked down to 3.7% from 3.8%, which would be a new cycle low.
Lead US economist Lydia Boussour said: “A key focus will be on average hourly earnings and whether the surprisingly soft February print was a blip or an early signal. In our view, the February reading likely understated wage growth.
“With labour market metrics still pointing to an extremely tight job market, we expect a robust 0.4% gain in average hourly earnings lifting wage growth 0.4ppts higher to a hefty 5.5% pace – the same pace as in January and the fastest since May 2020.”
In corporate news, Mitie Group said it had bought P2ML, a specialist telecoms tower design company for £2.1m on a cash and debt-free basis.
The deal will further expand Mitie’s telecoms acquisition, design and construction capabilities after the acquisition of DAEL Telecoms last year.
Homewares retailer Dunelm announced that Karen Witts will take over as chief financial officer on 9 June.
Witts, who joins Dunelm from Compass Group, will succeed Laura Carr, who will step down from the board on 8 June.
