London open: Markets slip ahead of US data, supermarkets and housebuilders fall

UK stocks endured a subdued start on Friday morning following a huge jump the previous session as markets paused for breath ahead of the pivotal US jobs report.

The FTSE 100 was down 0.2% at 6,554 early on, with supermarket stocks pulling back after a strong rally and housebuilders hit by some negative broker comments.

The index jumped 2.3% to 6,569.96 on Thursday, its highest finish of the year so far, after supermarket giant Tesco’s turnaround plan pleased the market and hopes for further central-bank stimulus in Europe boosted sentiment.

The latter factor saw the euro fall within an inch of its lowest level against the dollar since the currency’s formation in 1999. The euro dropped to $1.175, its lowest since December 2005, within a whisker of the $1.1789 mark it started trading at when it was launched.

The focus of Friday’s session is likely to be the all-important US non-farm payrolls report due out before the opening bell on Wall Street. The consensus forecast is for a 240,000 increase in payrolls in December, compared with November’s better-than-expected 321,000 gain.

“Markets aren’t expecting any significant negative surprises so even a slight miss to the downside won’t undermine sentiment too much,” said analyst Michael Hewson from CMC Markets UK.

Data released overnight showed that Chinese factory gate deflation worsened last month. The Chinese producer price index weakened to minus-3.3% year-on-year in December, from minus-2.7% in November and below the minus-3.1% forecast.

While Chinese consumer price inflation improved to 1.5% in December from a five-year low of 1.4% the previous month, it remains well below the government’s 3.5% target and “points towards the open possibility for monetary easing from the People’s Bank of China in the opening months of the year”, said analyst Jameel Ahmad from FXTM.

Grocers, housebuilders provide a drag

Supermarket stocks were under pressure on Friday, with Tesco in particular pulling back after a 15% surge the previous session. Rivals J Sainsbury and Wm Morrison were also in reverse after rallying strongly on Thursday.

Weighing on Tesco’s shares was the news that ratings agency Moody’s has cut the UK grocer’s debt to ‘junk’, saying that measures announced on Thursday to revive the struggling business “will take time to implement”. Analysts said that Tesco’s “financial profile is likely to remain leveraged beyond what we consider to be commensurate with an investment-grade profile”.

Housebuilders such as Barratt Developments, Taylor Wimpey, Redrow and Bellway were trading with heavy losses as analysts at Jefferies downgraded their ratings on stocks across the sector.

Electronic components supplier Laird, a key Apple supplier, underwhelmed despite announcing its confidence in meeting expectations for full-year results after a good fourth quarter. The group said trading in the latter months of the year left management "encouraged by the outlook”, but shares fell sharply early on.

Restaurant Group, the owner of Frankie & Benny's, Garfunkel's and Chiquito eateries, edged higher after saying that like-for-like sales over the Christmas period were strong and that full-year results will meet the market's forecasts for “material growth”.

Market Movers
techMARK 2,994.54 -0.08%
FTSE 100 6,554.00 -0.24%
FTSE 250 16,039.69 -0.28%

FTSE 100 - Risers
Ashtead Group (AHT) 1,163.00p +2.83%
Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) 453.70p +1.52%
ITV (ITV) 212.00p +1.19%
Weir Group (WEIR) 1,798.00p +1.18%
Smith & Nephew (SN.) 1,209.00p +1.09%
Sports Direct International (SPD) 710.00p +1.00%
Bunzl (BNZL) 1,824.00p +1.00%
Sky (SKY) 895.00p +0.90%
Experian (EXPN) 1,100.00p +0.82%
Friends Life Group Limited (FLG) 368.10p +0.82%

FTSE 100 - Fallers
Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 126.80p -4.52%
Barratt Developments (BDEV) 436.10p -4.09%
Persimmon (PSN) 1,488.00p -3.31%
Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) 245.10p -2.89%
Tesco (TSCO) 204.15p -2.44%
Morrison (Wm) Supermarkets (MRW) 181.20p -1.90%
Standard Chartered (STAN) 953.20p -1.80%
Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 4,804.00p -1.72%
Anglo American (AAL) 1,162.00p -1.61%
Fresnillo (FRES) 811.50p -1.58%

FTSE 250 - Risers
Acacia Mining (ACA) 278.80p +2.76%
Ophir Energy (OPHR) 142.20p +2.67%
Allied Minds (ALM) 377.70p +2.44%
Henderson Group (HGG) 218.70p +2.44%
Saga (SAGA) 151.30p +1.54%
Halfords Group (HFD) 429.80p +1.54%
Hikma Pharmaceuticals (HIK) 2,201.00p +1.20%
Intermediate Capital Group (ICP) 462.60p +0.98%
QinetiQ Group (QQ.) 189.40p +0.96%
Rank Group (RNK) 159.20p +0.95%

FTSE 250 - Fallers
Laird (LRD) 315.30p -4.94%
Nostrum Oil & Gas (NOG) 431.60p -4.09%
Zoopla Property Group (WI) (ZPLA) 175.10p -3.53%
COLT Group SA (COLT) 125.10p -3.17%
Bellway (BWY) 1,848.00p -3.14%
Redrow (RDW) 277.20p -3.08%
Vedanta Resources (VED) 514.00p -3.02%
Bovis Homes Group (BVS) 839.00p -2.84%
Stagecoach Group (SGC) 353.80p -2.59%
Computacenter (CCC) 610.00p -2.56%