London open: Stocks fall ahead of payrolls report

London stocks fell in early trade on Friday as investors eyed the release of the all-important non-farm payrolls report and mulled the latest UK house price data.

At 0830 BST, the FTSE 100 was down 0.4% at 8,212.18.

Derren Nathan, head of equity research at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: "The FTSE has lost further ground at the open after the leading US indices posted a third consecutive day of losses. Further data on the US labour market did little to allay growth concerns as private payroll growth numbers came in lower than they have for over three years, with hires of 99,000 workers in July significantly undershooting analyst forecasts.

"That doesn’t paint a great picture for today’s main event, the August non-farm payrolls report. If growth meets or beats forecasts of 160,000 there may be something of a relief rally, but any miss could be punished harshly. To put things in context though, growth is still growth, and a soft-landing doesn’t mean a slowdown can be completely avoided. Without seeing the final number, it still feels a little early to hit the panic button."

The non-farm payrolls report for August is due at 1330 BST, along with the unemployment rate and average earnings.

On home shores, figures from Halifax showed that house prices edged up to a two-year high in August as confidence picked up amid easing interest rates.

Prices rose 0.3% on the month following a 0.9% increase in July.

On the year, house prices rose 4.3% in August following a 2.4% gain the month before. This marked the strongest rate since November 2022, but Halifax pointed out that this was due in large part to the comparison with weaker growth this time last year.

The average price of a home stood at £292,505 versus £291,585 in July.

Amanda Bryden, head of mortgages at Halifax, said: "Recent price rises build on a largely positive summer for the UK housing market. Prospective homebuyers are feeling more confident thanks to easing interest rates. That optimism is reflected in the latest mortgage approval figures, now at their highest level in almost two years.

"Such has been the resilience of house prices that the average property is now just £1,000 shy of the record high set in June 2022 (£293,507). While this is welcome news for existing homeowners, affordability remains a significant challenge for many potential buyers still adjusting to higher mortgage costs.

"However with market activity picking up and the possibility of further interest rate reductions to come, we expect house prices to continue their modest growth through the remainder of this year."

In equity markets, Rolls-Royce was in the red again as it emerged that the European Union Aviation Safety Agency has ordered visual checks on some RR A350-1000 engines following this week’s Cathay Pacific incident.

Housebuilder Berkeley Group nudged lower after it backed its full-year guidance and said trading in the first four months of the year has been stable.

Darktrace was in focus as the cybersecurity firm announced that chief executive Poppy Gustafsson was stepping down, with chief operating officer Jill Popelka appointed as her successor, effective immediately.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 8,212.18 -0.36%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 20,776.05 0.07%
techMARK (TASX) 4,856.55 0.25%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Flutter Entertainment (DI) (FLTR) 16,230.00p 1.06%
Smith (DS) (SMDS) 452.60p 0.71%
Entain (ENT) 651.80p 0.71%
Convatec Group (CTEC) 232.60p 0.61%
CRH (CDI) (CRH) 6,366.00p 0.51%
SEGRO (SGRO) 874.20p 0.48%
Experian (EXPN) 3,596.00p 0.47%
Smith & Nephew (SN.) 1,186.50p 0.38%
AstraZeneca (AZN) 12,586.00p 0.37%
BAE Systems (BA.) 1,306.50p 0.31%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 470.60p -1.53%
Associated British Foods (ABF) 2,258.00p -1.35%
Burberry Group (BRBY) 628.80p -1.35%
NATWEST GROUP (NWG) 334.80p -1.30%
Barclays (BARC) 225.60p -1.29%
Pershing Square Holdings Ltd NPV (PSH) 3,504.00p -1.18%
HSBC Holdings (HSBA) 653.80p -1.07%
Anglo American (AAL) 2,079.50p -1.07%
Glencore (GLEN) 375.55p -1.00%
International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 186.85p -0.93%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Helios Towers (HTWS) 117.20p 4.27%
Discoverie Group (DSCV) 622.00p 3.49%
Baltic Classifieds Group (BCG) 290.00p 3.39%
Renishaw (RSW) 3,390.00p 3.20%
Mitie Group (MTO) 124.00p 3.16%
Trainline (TRN) 307.60p 3.15%
Bodycote (BOY) 661.00p 2.96%
Genus (GNS) 1,794.00p 2.75%
Me Group International (MEGP) 190.00p 2.70%
Auction Technology Group (ATG) 400.00p 2.56%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Indivior (INDV) 838.00p -7.91%
XPS Pensions Group (XPS) 290.00p -2.68%
Savills (SVS) 1,140.00p -2.56%
Petershill Partners (PHLL) 210.00p -2.55%
AO World (AO.) 110.00p -2.48%
Diversified Energy Company (DEC) 832.00p -1.71%
Computacenter (CCC) 2,592.00p -1.67%
BlackRock World Mining Trust (BRWM) 485.00p -1.32%
Direct Line Insurance Group (DLG) 186.50p -1.17%
Carnival (CCL) 1,107.00p -1.16%