London open: Stocks fall ahead of jobs data; EasyJet bucks trend

London stocks fell in early trade on Tuesday, taking their cue from a downbeat Asian session as investors eyed a slew of key UK jobs data.

At 0840 GMT, the FTSE 100 was off 0.4% at 6,946.37 as the index's heavyweight sectors of mining, oil producers and banks weighed. The pound was down 0.2% against the dollar at 1.2866 and 0.1% lower versus the euro at 1.1330.

The downbeat mood came as the IMF cut its global growth forecast for 2019 on Monday to the slowest level in three years and as Chinese data showed a slowing of economic growth to near a thirty year low.

On home turf, investors were still digesting the lack of Prime Minister Theresa May's 'plan B' for Brexit, as it essentially amounted to little more than a more concerted effort to push her 'Plan A'. May said she would continue to seek changes on the issue of the Irish backstop, ruling out a second referendum or an extension of Article 50.

Ahead of the vote on the modified version of her Brexit deal on 29 January, MPs are putting forward plans to change the path of Brexit. These include amendments to prevent a no-deal Brexit and to extend the deadline for leaving the EU. Meanwhile, the Labour party has called for a vote in Commons on whether to hold a second referendum.

On the data front, the UK labour market numbers will be released by the Office for National Statistics are all due at 0930 GMT, along with public sector net borrowing figures.

Expectations are for wages to have increased 3.3% in the three months to November, confirming the strongest pay rise in a decade from the previous month.

"This shows that even with Brexit uncertainties weighing on business and consumer confidence, the UK labour market is solid," said London Capital Group analyst Jasper Lawler. "With regular wage growth stronger than the BoE forecast and supportive of inflation, the BoE could once again be looking to raise interest rates, Brexit dependent, obviously."

In corporate news, global mining giant BHP was on the back foot as it said second quarter iron ore production fell 6% and reported a $600m negative impact due to production disruptions at copper and iron ore operations. Unplanned production outages at Olympic Dam, Spence and Western Australia Iron Ore would impact productivity, BHP said, adding it would revise guidance at its results on February 19.

Land Securities ticked down as it has launched a new business, called Myo, to compete with the likes of US-based WeWork, and domestic players IWG and Workspace.

Close Brothers was in the red as the merchant bank said its performance over the five months to 31 December 2018 was solid overall, but volumes and trading income at its securities arm, Winterflood, were hit by volatile equity markets.

IG Group slumped after the online trading platform posted a 17% drop in first-half pre-tax profit as revenue fell 6%.

EasyJet flew higher as the budget airline reported 14% jump in total revenue, a 20% rise in ancillary revenue and a 12% increase in passenger numbers for the first quarter. It also revealed a £10m cost impact from the drone incident at Gatwick related to customer welfare costs.

Dixons Carphone gained after it backed its full-year profit guidance as it reported mixed trading over the Christmas period, with electricals sales up but mobile sales down.

RPC was in the green following a report that private equity firm Apollo Global Management could announce a takeover of the plastic packaging supplier, while thread manufacturer Coats rose as it announced the sale of its North American crafts unit for $37m.

In broker note action, Peel Hunt made a series of ratings changes, downgrading Aggreko to 'reduce' and Rentokil to 'hold', and upgrading Babcock and Restore to 'buy'. The broker also lifted Equiniti to 'buy'.

Morgan Stanley cut IAG and Shell to 'underweight'.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 6,946.37 -0.35%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 18,746.09 -0.09%
techMARK (TASX) 3,403.91 0.19%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) 277.30p 1.58%
Morrison (Wm) Supermarkets (MRW) 231.40p 1.27%
Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) 289.70p 1.15%
Kingfisher (KGF) 220.00p 1.06%
Fresnillo (FRES) 904.80p 1.00%
Smiths Group (SMIN) 1,476.50p 0.99%
Whitbread (WTB) 4,898.00p 0.89%
Severn Trent (SVT) 1,951.00p 0.85%
TUI AG Reg Shs (DI) (TUI) 1,199.50p 0.80%
Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 167.05p 0.78%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

St James's Place (STJ) 964.80p -1.95%
International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 610.00p -1.87%
Wood Group (John) (WG.) 538.20p -1.64%
BHP Group (BHP) 1,587.20p -1.48%
Standard Chartered (STAN) 616.70p -1.41%
Evraz (EVR) 457.80p -1.29%
Royal Dutch Shell 'B' (RDSB) 2,373.00p -1.25%
Rio Tinto (RIO) 3,883.50p -1.21%
Royal Dutch Shell 'A' (RDSA) 2,345.50p -1.12%
HSBC Holdings (HSBA) 642.80p -1.11%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Equiniti Group (EQN) 219.50p 3.05%
Energean Oil & Gas (ENOG) 644.09p 2.24%
Cairn Energy (CNE) 189.20p 2.22%
Indivior (INDV) 122.40p 2.00%
Ferrexpo (FXPO) 205.50p 1.83%
Playtech (PTEC) 412.10p 1.35%
QinetiQ Group (QQ.) 305.30p 1.19%
IntegraFin Holding (IHP) 336.95p 1.19%
Countryside Properties (CSP) 327.80p 1.17%
Card Factory (CARD) 179.00p 1.13%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

IG Group Holdings (IGG) 589.00p -8.11%
Aggreko (AGK) 714.00p -4.55%
Senior (SNR) 212.40p -2.93%
Entertainment One Limited (ETO) 384.00p -2.78%
Rathbone Brothers (RAT) 2,344.00p -2.41%
Close Brothers Group (CBG) 1,528.00p -2.18%
Balfour Beatty (BBY) 273.99p -1.97%
Ted Baker (TED) 1,809.50p -1.82%
Barr (A.G.) (BAG) 789.00p -1.74%
JD Sports Fashion (JD.) 433.60p -1.63%