London pre-open: Stocks seen higher as investors eye payrolls

London stocks are expected to open higher on Friday following positive finishes in the US and Asia, as investors await the release of the all-important nonfarm payrolls.

The FTSE 100 is seen starting 24 points higher than Thursday’s close at 6,154.

The payrolls report and the unemployment rate are both due at 1330 GMT.

“While the ADP employment report was fairly good, it was also pretty positive in January which would suggest perhaps that today’s non-farm payrolls report could well see an upward revision. We can also expect to see various monthly revisions for the whole of last year as well,” said CMC Markets’ Michael Hewson.

“Expectations are for an improvement to 195k while the unemployment rate is expected to stay unchanged at 4.9%.”

London Stock Exchange annual profit rises

It was a year of wins for the London Stock Exchange in 2015, with the FTSE 100 company recording a rise in total income of 72% to £2.38bn, from £1.38bn in 2014.

Total revenue was up 78% to £2.29bn, it said in its final report on Friday. The company described operating expenses as 'well controlled', rising 1% during the year on an organic and constant currency basis to £1.05bn.

That made for a total adjusted operating profit of £709.6m, up 27% from £558m, and a reported operating profit of £499.9m, up from £346m in 2014. LSE proposed a final dividend of 25.2p per share, making for a full-year dividend of 36p - a 20% increase.

WPP celebrated its 30th birthday in style in 2015, with another record year of results. Reported billings at the advertising and public relations firm were up 3.1% to £47.63bn in its preliminary results on Friday, though the revenue results were mixed through its various markets.

Headline EBITDA crossed the £2bn threshold for the first time, at £2.002bn, and reported profit before tax rose 2.8% to £1.49bn - a 7.3% rise in constant currencies.

The FTSE 100 firm confirmed a 17% rise in total dividends for the year, to 17p per share. That represented a payout ratio of 47.7%, against 45% last year.