London open: FTSE lifted by miners as investors eye payrolls

London stocks rose in early trade on Friday, boosted by a strong showing in the mining sector, as investors eyed the latest US non-farm payrolls report.

At 0825 GMT, the FTSE 100 was 0.7% higher at 7,240.49, while the pound was up 0.5% against the dollar at 1.1217, having tumbled on Thursday on the back of the Bank of England policy announcement.

Richard Hunter, head of markets at Interactive Investor, said: "Markets remain hamstrung and unable to forge any real progress until such time as a cooling of inflation becomes evident and that the Fed is finally ready to take its foot off the pedal.

"Where there were previous hopes for a lower hike of 0.5% in December, investors are now evenly split between that number and what would be a fifth consecutive rise of 0.75%.

"In the meantime, the next test for investors’ mettle comes in the form of the non-farm payrolls report, which is almost seen as a no-win scenario. If the expected number of 200,000 jobs being added is exceeded and the unemployment rate more or less unchanged, this will add further fuel to the Fed’s policy.

"This is despite the fact that the release would signal a drop from the previous month’s reading of 263000, with the simple reality being that until unemployment begins to rise and the consumer therefore spends less, a lessening of inflation could remain out of reach."

The payrolls report for October is due at 1230 GMT, along with the unemployment rate and average earnings.

On home shores, data out earlier showed that retail footfall faltered in October as rising prices and the cost-of-living crisis deterred shoppers.

According to the latest BRC-Sensormatic IQ Footfall Monitor, total UK footfall increased 2% in October year-on-year. However, once the impact of the various lockdowns and other pandemic restrictions were stripped out, it slumped 11.8% year-on-three-years in October, 2 percentage points worse than September.

Within that, high street footfall fell 11.6% compared to October 2019, just 0.3 percentage points better than the previous month.

Footfall at retail parks was down 3.7% on 2019, 1.1 percentage points worse than September, while shopping centres recorded a 21.8% slump on October 2019, although that was a 0.9 percentage point rise on the previous month.

Helen Dickinson, chief executive of the British Retail Consortium, said: "Footfall took a stumble in its slow return to pre-pandemic levels, as rising prices and tightening purse strings meant fewer consumers made trips to the shops.

"October marked the first full month of higher energy bills for many families, reducing discretionary spending.

"The next months will be crucial, as the Christmas spending period begins: households are unlikely to see the cost-of-living crisis ease any time soon, and retailers are finding it harder to shoulder the mounting supply chain pressures."

In equity markets, miners were the standout gainers as copper prices rose, with Anglo American, Rio, Glencore and Antofagasta all higher. The sector was boosted by more speculation that China might relax its Covid restrictions.

Victoria Scholar, head of investment at Interactive Investor, said: "The Hang Seng in Hong Kong has rallied by more than 5% overnight with the Hang Seng property and tech indices surged by more than 10% at one stage.

"The HSI logged its best weekly gain since November 2011 amid speculation that some of China’s strict Covid rules that have sharply weighed on its economy could be set to ease in the coming months. So far, the speculation is only based on social media rumours with China’s foreign ministry commenting that it is not aware of the issue."

Elsewhere, Morgan Advanced Materials surged more than 10% after it lifted its profit and revenue guidance as sales for the first nine months of the year rose 10.5%.

4imprint also rallied after upgrading its revenue guidance for 2022 to around $1.1bn from $1bn following ongoing positive trading momentum.

On the downside, Sainsbury’s was knocked lower by a downgrade to ‘neutral’ at Exane.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,240.49 0.72%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 18,177.62 0.38%
techMARK (TASX) 4,247.60 -0.14%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Anglo American (AAL) 2,801.00p 5.46%
Rio Tinto (RIO) 4,865.50p 4.07%
Prudential (PRU) 867.40p 3.46%
Endeavour Mining (EDV) 1,512.00p 3.42%
Glencore (GLEN) 536.30p 3.33%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 1,220.00p 3.30%
Fresnillo (FRES) 723.40p 3.08%
Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 82.10p 2.42%
Severn Trent (SVT) 2,537.00p 2.34%
Harbour Energy (HBR) 412.20p 2.31%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) 206.60p -2.36%
Unite Group (UTG) 862.50p -1.65%
RS Group (RS1) 870.50p -1.64%
Reckitt Benckiser Group (RKT) 5,692.00p -0.94%
Relx plc (REL) 2,298.00p -0.73%
Tesco (TSCO) 221.50p -0.67%
London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) 7,568.00p -0.58%
BAE Systems (BA.) 819.00p -0.53%
BT Group (BT.A) 115.95p -0.39%
Sage Group (SGE) 710.80p -0.36%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Fidelity China Special Situations (FCSS) 205.00p 6.55%
888 Holdings (DI) (888) 102.00p 4.24%
Mitie Group (MTO) 74.70p 4.18%
Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings (AML) 108.70p 3.52%
Trainline (TRN) 320.80p 3.25%
TBC Bank Group (TBCG) 2,175.00p 3.08%
Mitchells & Butlers (MAB) 130.80p 2.75%
Hochschild Mining (HOC) 52.85p 2.62%
Diploma (DPLM) 2,494.00p 2.55%
UK Commercial Property Reit Limited (UKCM) 61.80p 2.49%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Renishaw (RSW) 3,378.00p -2.82%
Bodycote (BOY) 496.20p -2.61%
Spectris (SXS) 2,901.00p -1.86%
SSP Group (SSPG) 204.10p -1.83%
Man Group (EMG) 216.30p -1.73%
Shaftesbury (SHB) 362.00p -1.68%
Helios Towers (HTWS) 112.10p -1.15%
Future (FUTR) 1,284.00p -0.93%
Bank of Georgia Group (BGEO) 2,330.00p -0.85%
Premier Foods (PFD) 104.80p -0.76%