London midday: Stocks tick higher ahead of payrolls

London stocks had edged a little higher by midday on Friday as investors digested a reading on the UK manufacturing sector and eyed the latest US non-farm payrolls report.

The FTSE 100 was up 0.3% at 7,535.38, with little in the way of corporate releases but plenty of other news to keep investors busy.

Richard Hunter, head of markets at Interactive Investor, said: "The latest update on the US economy will come later with the release of the non-farm payrolls report, which is expected to show that around 470000 jobs were added in March, as compared to 678000 in February.

"Of equal significance will be the unemployment rate, which has latterly implied tightness in a labour market approaching full employment. While this effectively frees up the Fed to concentrate on inflation, the tightness could also lead to wage rises which would be further inflationary factors of their own."

Investors were waiting to see whether Russian president Putin will cut off Europe’s gas supplies if countries refuse to pay in roubles as of Friday.

Market participants were also mulling over a report that the UK is set to join the US in releasing more oil from its reserves as part of a joint effort to lower prices and reduce reliance on Russian supplies. According to Bloomberg, an announcement is likely later in the day via the International Energy Agency. Sources declined to say the size of the release, citing market sensitivity and the need for countries to act in concert.

On home shores, the latest survey from S&P Global/CIPS showed that manufacturing growth hit a 13-month low in March, while business optimism fell to a 14-month low.

The manufacturing purchasing managers’ index fell to 55.2 from 58.0 in February. This was below the flash estimate of 55.5 but above the 50.0 mark that separates contraction from expansion.

Ongoing supply shortages, greater caution among clients, escalating inflationary pressures and geopolitical tensions all hampered the upturn, the survey found.

All five of the PMI sub-components were down on the month, with weaker growth of output and new orders, slower upturns in both stocks of purchases and employment and a lessening in the extent to which average supplier lead times were lengthening.

In equity markets, Taylor Wimpey and Persimmon were among the high risers, recovering after the housebuilding sector took a beating in the last quarter.

Bridgepoint and Lancashire Holdings were both boosted by an upgrade to ‘buy’ at Citi, while Close Brothers was up after an upgrade to ‘buy’ from ‘hold’ at Liberum.

Mitie was on the front foot after the outsourcer announced the acquisition of P2ML, a specialist telecoms tower design company, for £2.1m.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,535.38 0.26%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 21,286.03 0.60%
techMARK (TASX) 4,322.98 -0.13%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 134.70p 3.06%
Reckitt Benckiser Group (RKT) 6,008.00p 3.02%
JD Sports Fashion (JD.) 152.40p 2.80%
Next (NXT) 6,170.00p 2.29%
Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 48.06p 2.14%
Kingfisher (KGF) 260.30p 1.92%
Phoenix Group Holdings (PHNX) 625.20p 1.82%
Anglo American (AAL) 4,043.00p 1.77%
ITV (ITV) 83.36p 1.76%
Ocado Group (OCDO) 1,191.50p 1.75%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Compass Group (CPG) 1,595.00p -3.33%
Electrocomponents (ECM) 1,050.00p -3.14%
AstraZeneca (AZN) 9,985.00p -1.45%
Experian (EXPN) 2,916.00p -1.19%
National Grid (NG.) 1,161.00p -0.97%
CRH (CDI) (CRH) 3,046.00p -0.85%
Hikma Pharmaceuticals (HIK) 2,044.00p -0.82%
BT Group (BT.A) 180.70p -0.82%
Relx plc (REL) 2,364.00p -0.80%
Halma (HLMA) 2,491.00p -0.76%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Lancashire Holdings Limited (LRE) 451.80p 4.58%
Moonpig Group (MOON) 233.60p 4.29%
888 Holdings (888) 192.20p 4.17%
Close Brothers Group (CBG) 1,236.00p 3.78%
Currys (CURY) 94.25p 3.69%
Network International Holdings (NETW) 289.80p 3.50%
Bridgepoint Group (Reg S) (BPT) 363.80p 3.50%
Frasers Group (FRAS) 656.00p 3.47%
Ferrexpo (FXPO) 192.90p 3.43%
Baltic Classifieds Group (BCG) 143.20p 3.39%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Provident Financial (PFG) 285.60p -6.85%
Oxford Biomedica (OXB) 651.00p -3.41%
Ascential (ASCL) 337.20p -2.71%
Drax Group (DRX) 769.00p -2.16%
Centrica (CNA) 78.48p -2.00%
Hammerson (HMSO) 32.43p -1.79%
Pennon Group (PNN) 1,060.00p -1.40%
Edinburgh Worldwide Inv Trust (EWI) 220.00p -1.35%
Future (FUTR) 2,572.00p -1.15%
Clipper Logistics (CLG) 872.00p -1.13%