London midday: Stocks flat ahead of non-farm payrolls

London stocks were flat by midday on Friday following heavy losses in the previous session, as investors paused for breath ahead of the latest US non-farm payrolls report.

The FTSE 100 was steady at 7,448.68.

Neil Wilson, chief market analyst at Markets.com said he was expecting a big print that ought to cement FOMC views about the labour market being a lot closer to full employment.

"Notable from the minutes on Wednesday was the fact several participants thought the labour market was already at full employment and more thought it fast approaching that level. Consensus is around 400k following the 210k in November, but ADP was +800k.

"I’d expect something like 600k to split the difference - seasonal factors are skewed to a much larger print and 4-week moving average of weekly unemployment claims has come down sharply. I think a strong report will be bullish for equities as investors have seemingly already adjust to Fed/market tightening, which leaves earnings growth key to offset multiple compression."

The payrolls report is due at 1330 GMT, along with the unemployment rate and average earnings.

On home shores, a survey showed growth in the construction sector hit a three-month low in December amid disruption from the Omicron variant.

The IHS/Markit CIPS construction purchasing mangers’ index fell to 54.3 from 55.5 in November, but remained above the 50.0 mark that separates contraction from expansion. Some survey respondents said tighter pandemic restrictions and rising Covid cases had acted as a brake on recovery, especially in the commercial sector.

The survey found that residential construction activity saw the strongest growth, with the index at 55.3, and was the only category to gain momentum in December. Commercial building lost its position as the best-performing segment, with the index at 53.6, while civil engineering activity fell slightly at the end of 2021, with the index at 49.1 following nine months of expansion.

Earlier, the latest survey from Halifax revealed that house prices rose in December at the fastest annual pace since July 2007 amid strong demand and low supply, but are expected to cool in 2022.

Prices rose 9.8% on the year following an 8.2% increase in November. On the month, prices were up 1.1% in December, in line with the previous month, with the average property price now standing at a new record high of £276,091.

In cash terms, house prices were up by more than £24,500 in 2021, which marks the largest annual cash rise since March 2003.

Halifax managing director Russell Galley, said: "The lack of spending opportunities afforded to people while restrictions were in place helped boost household cash reserves. This factor, alongside the Stamp Duty holiday and the race for space as a result of homeworking, will have encouraged buyers to bring forward home purchases that may have been planned for this year.

"The extension of the Government’s job and income support schemes also supported the labour market and may have given some households the confidence to proceed with purchases."

In equity markets, miners gained sharply as metals price rose, with Rio, Anglo, BHP and Antofagasta all higher.

Shell nudged up as it said its $7bn share buyback programme would continue "at pace" despite weaker oil product sales due to the Omicron Covid variant and forex headwinds in Turkey.

Shipping broker Clarksons advanced after it lifted annual profit guidance for the second time in a month following stronger-than-anticipated trading in December.

Bulmers and Magners owner C&C fizzed lower after it said trading conditions in December for its on-trade business were "significantly impacted" by renewed government restrictions across the UK and Ireland.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,448.68 -0.02%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 23,294.02 -0.52%
techMARK (TASX) 4,468.44 -0.60%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Rio Tinto (RIO) 5,197.00p 2.34%
Anglo American (AAL) 3,230.00p 2.09%
BHP Group (BHP) 2,285.00p 1.78%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 1,350.00p 1.66%
Scottish Mortgage Inv Trust (SMT) 1,234.50p 1.56%
BP (BP.) 360.60p 1.53%
Prudential (PRU) 1,305.00p 1.52%
Glencore (GLEN) 394.10p 1.48%
Legal & General Group (LGEN) 303.20p 1.07%
SSE (SSE) 1,641.50p 1.02%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 157.60p -2.46%
B&M European Value Retail S.A. (DI) (BME) 605.00p -2.36%
Diageo (DGE) 3,908.50p -1.76%
Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) 275.30p -1.71%
InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) 4,951.00p -1.61%
Aveva Group (AVV) 3,089.00p -1.44%
Burberry Group (BRBY) 1,795.00p -1.37%
Kingfisher (KGF) 351.00p -1.32%
Ocado Group (OCDO) 1,568.50p -1.32%
ITV (ITV) 113.50p -1.30%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Clarkson (CKN) 4,005.00p 4.84%
Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings (AML) 1,420.00p 3.61%
Centamin (DI) (CEY) 88.74p 2.21%
Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) 256.10p 2.07%
Essentra (ESNT) 347.00p 1.91%
BlackRock World Mining Trust (BRWM) 594.00p 1.54%
Drax Group (DRX) 602.00p 1.52%
Fidelity China Special Situations (FCSS) 308.00p 1.15%
Weir Group (WEIR) 1,768.50p 1.06%
Direct Line Insurance Group (DLG) 289.10p 1.01%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

C&C Group (CDI) (CCR) 226.80p -4.14%
Greggs (GRG) 3,000.00p -3.26%
Ninety One (N91) 266.80p -2.63%
Bytes Technology Group (BYIT) 524.00p -2.60%
Hochschild Mining (HOC) 119.50p -2.45%
Hammerson (HMSO) 34.79p -2.44%
Provident Financial (PFG) 352.60p -2.43%
Petershill Partners (PHLL) 249.00p -2.35%
Brewin Dolphin Holdings (BRW) 346.00p -2.26%
Oxford Biomedica (OXB) 1,126.00p -2.26%