London open: Stocks fall as investors mull jobs data

London stocks fell in early trade on Tuesday following a late selloff on Wall Street, as investors digested the latest UK jobs data.

At 0835 BST, the FTSE 100 was down 0.4% at 7,195.59.

US markets closed down on Monday as investors were spooked by reports that Apple was planning to slow hiring and spending into 2023 in a number of key areas.

Richard Hunter, head of markets at Interactive Investor, said: "Quite apart from the company’s influence given its size - its market value is currently over $2.4 trillion - it is also seen as a strong indicator of consumer spending intentions.

"The news sent its shares down by over 2%, but equally importantly provided another stark reminder of the fact that corporates could be feeling the squeeze against a backdrop of high inflation and tightening margins."

On home shores, meanwhile, the latest data from the Office for National Statistics showed that employment picked up in the three months to May but real pay fell at the fastest rate since records began.

Average total pay growth was 6.2%, down from 6.8% in April, while regular pay growth excluding bonuses was 4.3%, up a touch from 4.2%. Adjusted for inflation, however, total pay fell by 0.9% and regular pay was down 2.8% - the biggest fall since records began in 2001.

The data also showed that the unemployment rate was steady at 3.8% in the three months to May.

Meanwhile, the number of people in employment rose by 296,000. This was well ahead of consensus expectations of 170,000 and marked the biggest jump since the three months to August 2021.

David Freeman, head of labour market and household statistics at the ONS, said: "Following recent increases in inflation, pay is now clearly falling in real terms both including and excluding bonuses. Excluding bonuses, real pay is now dropping faster than at any time since records began in 2001."

In equity markets, miners were under the cosh as metals prices dropped, with Anglo American and Antofagasta among the biggest losers.

On the upside, 4Imprint surged after it said 2022 operating profit was set to be "materially" above consensus analyst forecast, and not less than $75m.

Informa rallied as it backed its full-year expectations and hailed strong first-half revenues.

Darktrace was also in the black as it said full-year core earnings margins were set to be above expectations, as customer numbers increased.

Biffa gained as the waste management company said it had won a 10-year contract to provide logistics, sorting and counting services for the UK's first Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) for drinks containers in Scotland.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,195.59 -0.38%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 18,937.17 -0.41%
techMARK (TASX) 4,287.60 -0.63%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Informa (INF) 557.60p 3.84%
Harbour Energy (HBR) 347.20p 2.63%
Avast (AVST) 533.00p 0.83%
WPP (WPP) 816.00p 0.62%
Barclays (BARC) 154.96p 0.48%
Imperial Brands (IMB) 1,868.50p 0.46%
Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 42.97p 0.46%
British American Tobacco (BATS) 3,498.50p 0.40%
Pershing Square Holdings Ltd NPV (PSH) 2,575.00p 0.39%
Unilever (ULVR) 3,879.50p 0.38%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

GSK (GSK) 1,734.60p -20.12%
Ocado Group (OCDO) 756.60p -2.98%
International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 110.70p -2.72%
Aveva Group (AVV) 2,233.00p -2.70%
Flutter Entertainment (CDI) (FLTR) 7,706.00p -2.11%
Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 90.37p -1.97%
Anglo American (AAL) 2,594.00p -1.65%
Kingfisher (KGF) 251.60p -1.45%
Croda International (CRDA) 6,740.00p -1.38%
Intermediate Capital Group (ICP) 1,363.50p -1.37%

FTSE 250 - Risers

4Imprint Group (FOUR) 2,640.00p 8.20%
Polymetal International (POLY) 185.00p 3.93%
Ruffer Investment Company Ltd Red PTG Pref Shares (RICA) 305.50p 2.86%
Biffa (BIFF) 373.40p 2.36%
Elementis (ELM) 102.00p 1.80%
Darktrace (DARK) 341.00p 1.70%
Babcock International Group (BAB) 323.00p 1.19%
Currys (CURY) 71.70p 1.13%
Ferrexpo (FXPO) 117.70p 1.03%
AVI Global Trust (AGT) 182.00p 1.00%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings (AML) 544.60p -10.55%
Carnival (CCL) 705.80p -3.13%
easyJet (EZJ) 371.70p -2.87%
Domino's Pizza Group (DOM) 276.00p -2.75%
Essentra (ESNT) 235.00p -2.69%
Weir Group (WEIR) 1,353.00p -2.59%
Future (FUTR) 1,719.00p -2.50%
IntegraFin Holding (IHP) 242.80p -2.49%
Countryside Partnerships (CSP) 236.80p -2.39%
Trainline (TRN) 374.00p -2.38%