London open: Employment data, BoE, ECB in focus

Ahead of today's employment figures in the UK and a speech from ECB president Mario Draghi, in London, data pointing to signs of a possible stabilisation in the Chinese economy helped to shore up market sentiment in early trading.

As of 08:38 the Footsie was rising by 23.60 points to 6,298.88, while the Shanghai Stock Exchange's Composite index has finished the day higher by 0.27% at 3,650.25.

However, it remained to be seen if economists would be sufficiently convinced of the sustainability of any such improvement in the prospects for Asia's largest economy.

Nonetheless, in light of the above data and Friday's better-than-expected US jobs figures, some analysts were calling into question market expectations for the Bank of England's and European Central Bank's next moves, especially the latter. That came ahead of a speech by ECB president Mario Dragi on Wednesday, in London, and the latest UK employment data.

Figures showing soft industrial production in China during October were offset by steady readings on investment and manufacturing output, together with stronger-than-expected retail sales numbers.

"The rebound in fixed investment growth last month suggest that the recent easing of monetary and fiscal policy is beginning to have the desired effect. With policymakers likely to err on this side of caution and continue to adopt an accommodative policy stance, we expect this tailwind to economic activity to last for some time," said Julian Evans-Pritchard, china economist at Capital Economics.

Fixed asset investment in Asia's largest economy rose at a 10.2% year-on-year pace in the first ten months of the year, according to the country's statistics bureau, in line with the consensus estimate from economists.

ECB will not move before the US Federal Reserve?

Speaking on Tuesday evening, Adam Posen, the president of the Peterson Institute for International Economics told CNBC the ECB would not boost QE before the US Fed hikes interest rates.

Speaking to the same broadcaster Lorenzo Bini-Smaghi, an ex-ECB governing council member sounded a skeptical note on the chances of a large cut to the central bank's deposit rate in December. Some market commentary had pointed to speculation that such a move could add to pressure on the single currency.

UK employment report in focus

The latest labour market data were expected to show unemployment held steady at 5.4% over the three months to September, albeit a pick-up in wage growth to 3.2%.

"A strong wages number will further reinforce the widening gap between wages and inflation and raise concerns that the Bank of England is not only behind the curve, but is on the way to being lapped," said Michael Hewson, chief market analyst at CMC Markets UK.

The report was scheduled for release by ONS on Wednesday at 09:30.

"[The OECD's half-yearly economic outlook] showed it was not on the same wavelength [as the MPC] and instead suggested that the BoE should consider raising rates early next year. If the economy continues to improve and emerging market risk dissipates, I’m sure the BoE will reassess as it has repeatedly in the past as current conditions surely do not warrant record low interest rates, regardless of the headwinds from abroad," said Craig Erlam, senior market analyst at Oanda.

SAB Miller and Anheuser Busch-InBev seal takeover

Anheuser Busch-InBev has made a formal offer to buy London-listed rival SABMiller for £44 a share in cash, the companies confirmed on Wednesday. The deal, which is expected to complete in the second half of next year and follows months of negotiations and extended deadlines from the Takeover Panel, represents a premium of around 50% to SABMiller’s closing price prior to renewed speculation of an approach.

Interim results from Sainsbury's showed like-for-like sales shrank 1.6% and profits crashing 17.9% lower to £308m but ahead of consensus estimates of £300m. Underlying earnings per share tumbled 17.2% to 12p, but were also ahead of forecasts of 11.5p.

Housebuilder Barratt said net private reservations per week in the 19 weeks to 8 November were up 12.5% to 261 with a sales rate of 0.70 (2014: 0.63) net private reservations per active site per week against 0.63 last year. Total forward sales, including joint ventures , rose by 20.7% to £2.5bn. The company said it was “on track to deliver further good progress in FY16”.

TalkTalk estimated the one-off financial impact of the cyber attack that occurred in October at between £30m and £35m. The telecommunications company said earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation fell to £90m from £110m, missing expectations of around £98m. However, it raised its interim dividend 15% from last year to 5.29p – a move that is likely to surprise analysts and investors who had been expecting a cut.

SSE saw adjusted profits jump in the first half of the year, driven by revenue from its wholesale energy portfolio management and electricity generation division. Revenue rose from £12.4bn in 2014 to £13.8bn, an 11% jump from 2014 and ahead of consensus estimates for £12.5bn.

Great Portland Estates posted a 15.7% rise in first half pre-tax profit and a 14% jump in net asset value per share on the back of solid leasing activity. NAV per share rose to 808p in the six months to the end of September, while pre-tax profit came it at £24.3m, largely reflecting the acquisition of Starwood Capital’s interest in GSP and development management profits at 12/14 New Fetter Lane in London.

Tullett Prebon has agreed to buy rival inter-dealer brokes Icap's hybrid voice broking and information business in an all-shares deal. Tullett will issue a parcel of new shares greater than its current share capital such that once the deal is completed, Icap shareholders will own 36.1% of its rival, existing Tullett shareholders will own 44% of the enlarged company and the remainder will be owned by a new holding company of the Icap business.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 6,310.25 0.56%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 17,159.45 0.70%
techMARK (TASX) 3,097.31 0.78%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Experian (EXPN) 1,224.00p 3.12%
Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 688.00p 2.38%
Intertek Group (ITRK) 2,586.00p 2.05%
Glencore (GLEN) 107.10p 1.95%
Shire Plc (SHP) 4,754.00p 1.69%
St James's Place (STJ) 962.50p 1.64%
SABMiller (SAB) 4,039.00p 1.58%
Babcock International Group (BAB) 973.50p 1.56%
GKN (GKN) 291.70p 1.53%
Diageo (DGE) 1,898.50p 1.42%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

SSE (SSE) 1,477.00p -1.01%
Persimmon (PSN) 1,866.00p -0.48%
Berkeley Group Holdings (The) (BKG) 3,117.00p -0.48%
Wolseley (WOS) 3,614.00p -0.44%
Aberdeen Asset Management (ADN) 343.50p -0.43%
Schroders (SDR) 2,999.00p -0.43%
Barratt Developments (BDEV) 573.50p -0.35%
Travis Perkins (TPK) 1,957.00p -0.25%
Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 3,939.00p -0.25%
Land Securities Group (LAND) 1,240.00p -0.24%

FTSE 250 - Risers

TalkTalk Telecom Group (TALK) 244.20p 12.38%
Sophos Group (SOPH) 268.50p 6.63%
Kaz Minerals (KAZ) 90.25p 6.36%
Ophir Energy (OPHR) 100.30p 6.31%
ICAP (IAP) 500.50p 6.11%
Aggreko (AGK) 972.00p 2.86%
Premier Oil (PMO) 75.90p 2.64%
Weir Group (WEIR) 1,173.00p 2.62%
Savills (SVS) 935.50p 2.52%
Vesuvius (VSVS) 354.30p 2.31%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Centamin (DI) (CEY) 58.30p -6.87%
Tullett Prebon (TLPR) 343.00p -4.46%
Petra Diamonds Ltd.(DI) (PDL) 62.40p -3.85%
Fidessa Group (FDSA) 1,929.00p -2.33%
Jimmy Choo (CHOO) 152.00p -1.94%
Auto Trader Group (AUTO) 373.90p -1.89%
Marshalls (MSLH) 330.50p -1.67%
Enterprise Inns (ETI) 101.00p -1.46%
SIG (SHI) 124.70p -1.42%
Tate & Lyle (TATE) 608.50p -1.06%